Bolivia: Protesters offered $50,000 bounty for Morales

By Sierra Juarez

PUERTO ESCONDIDO, Mexico (AA) – Former Bolivian President Evo Morales said Tuesday that leaders of the protest movement against him offered $50,000 to a member of his security forces to turn him in to them before he resigned from the presidency.

“Neither this coup nor the attacks on my life will change my ideology…This is yet another lesson to learn and strengthen the fight for sovereignty, inclusion, dignity and liberty,” Morales said on Twitter.

Bolivia underwent weeks of upheaval after Morales was poised to start his fourth term as president. He stepped down Sunday amid protests over the disputed results of his reelection in October.

After he resigned, Morales requested political asylum from Mexico. Before leaving, he tweeted that he would eventually return to Bolivia with more “strength and energy.”

He arrived in Mexico on Tuesday afternoon.

“I am very thankful to my brother [Mexican President Andres] Manuel Lopez Obrador and the government and the people of Mexico for saving my life,” Morales tweeted after his arrival.

On the way to Mexico, Ecuador did not permit Morales to fly over the country. Instead, his plane had to go through Brazil, according to the Mexican government.

Upon arriving, Morales held a press conference with Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard.

Ebrard called today a “happy day” because the asylum Mexico is offering the former Bolivian president will give him “liberty, security, integrity and protection of his life.”