Evo Morales is Bolivia's former president and the country's first indigenous head of state.
Mr Morales was born into poverty in the tiny Andean town of Isallavi. He herded llamas, left school early and migrated to the tropics, where he joined the coca farmers' union. He became a firebrand union leader. In 1997 he became president of the Movement to Socialism (MAS).
In 2006 Mr Morales led the MAS to power with a majority in Congress; in 2009 the party won a supermajority. He renegotiated contracts with the firms extracting natural gas and boosted social spending. He kicked out the US Drug Enforcement Administration. Bolivia's GDP grew at almost 5% a year during his tenure and the share of people living in poverty fell from 61% to 37%.
In 2019 he ran for an unconstitutional fourth consecutive term. He won, but allegations of fraud sparked protests and the army asked him to resign. He went into exile in Argentina.
Mr Morales returned to Bolivia after the MAS swept back into power in 2020 under Luis Arce, his former finance minister and chosen candidate. The two soon fell out as Mr Arce sought to stay in power. MAS legislators loyal to Mr Morales stopped voting with the government. After years of infighting, Mr Morales was forced out of the MAS.
A judge ordered Mr Morales's arrest on charges relating to a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Mr Morales says the allegations are politically motivated. He has been holed up in Lauca Eñe, a village in the Chapare, defended by hundreds of supporters with sharp staves who have formed a ragtag garrison since police fired on his car in October 2024. He accuses the government of trying to kill him; officials say his vehicle rammed through a checkpoint.
Mr Morales still leads the Six Federations, an overarching body uniting almost 50,000 coca farmers in the Chapare. His candidacy for the August 2025 presidential election was blocked by a court ruling on term limits. He called on supporters to spoil their ballots to delegitimise the poll, planning to lead a resistance from the Chapare if a right-wing president is elected. He operates his own propaganda outlet, Radio Kawsachun Coca.
The null-vote campaign was strikingly effective. In the first round on August 17th, spoiled ballots came third (about 20% of all votes), ahead of the permitted MAS candidate, Eduardo del Castillo, who won just 3%—barely enough to maintain the party's legal status. In the run-off on October 19th Rodrigo Paz won with 55% of the vote, ending nearly 20 years of MAS rule.
When we talk of tomorrow, the gods laugh.