Evo Morales sets date for his return to Bolivia

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Former president Evo Morales will be returning to Bolivia on Nov. 11, he told the BBC on Thursday, three days after Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca are sworn in as president and vice president of the country.

Morales has been living in exile in Argentina since resigning in November last year amid protests over allegations of vote rigging in the presidential election. An interim government led by right-wing Senator Jeanine Áñez took over power.

The former president had expressed on several occasions his will to return to Bolivia if Arce, the candidate for his Movement for Socialism (MAS) party, won the general elections, which it did, capturing 55% of the vote to avoid a runoff with opposition candidate Carlos Mesa, who received 28%, according to official results.

On Monday, a judge in Bolivia annulled an arrest warrant which had been issued against Morales last year for alleged sedition and terrorism, opening the way for his return.

Arce, who won the Oct. 18 presidential elections by a landslide, will be sworn in on Nov. 8, according to Minister of the Presidency Yerko Nuñez.

"The electoral campaign has concluded. The population expressed itself at the polls. Now it is time to organize the transfer of presidential authority and the transition from the constitutional government to the elected government," the minister said from the government headquarters.

In a television interview, Senator Andrónico Rodríguez of the MAS party said a massive mobilization will be held to receive “the historic leader” to celebrate his return.

However, Morales has said he will not have a prominent role in Arce’s government.