This is the shocking moment a man tossed a chair and hit former Bolivian President Evo Morales in the head during a campaign event he atte...
This is the shocking moment a man tossed a chair and hit former Bolivian President Evo Morales in the head during a campaign event he attended in support of a gubernatorial candidate.
Video taken at the rally showed Morales sitting on a stage at a local gym in Shinahota, Cochabamba, where he was supporting Pedro GarcÃa for the Santa Cruz department's governor's seat.
But supporters of the Movement for Socialism party started shouting at the party leader and former leader to leave the building.
Members in the rowdy crowd tossed objects at the stage as a police officer and a woman stood front center in an attempt to calm the crowd.
A crowd grows restless at a Movement for Socialism campaign event in Bolivia on Monday as event attendees shouted at former President Evo Morales (circled) to leave before he was hit in the head by a chair
A chair bounces off the head of Bolivia's former leader Evo Morales at a gubernatorial campaign event in the department of Cochabamba
Evo Morales (center wearing a blue polo) was all smiles during a meeting Sunday
At least one chair was hurled by an attendant before it fell short from reaching the table where Morales was sitting while others in the crowd could be seen holding chairs over their heads.
The video showed two attendees climbed on the stage, but were immediately forced to get back down.
However, a man then walked up to the stage and attacked Morales with the the chair.
It is unknown if the man was arrested for assaulting the former president.
Mayoral and gubernatorial elections will be held in Bolivia in March 2021.
Morales, who is banned from running for president again, still maintains a stronghold over the Movement for Socialism party's leadership.
He blamed the incident on opposition party backers who infiltrated the rally.
The socialist politician ruled Bolivia for 14 years before he resigned from office November 10, 2019 after his support faded.
He had refused to accept limits on his ability to seek reelection, and had been accused of authoritarianism.
Evo Morales gestures at supporters during a visit to a polling station in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, on Sunday
Protests over alleged fraud roiled the South American nation when he claimed a narrow outright victory in the October 2019 presidential election, and he wound up resigning at the suggestion of military and police leaders.
The 61-year-old leftist former president left the following day on a government plane provided by Mexico's leftist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and spent a year in exile.
He stayed in Mexico for a month where he was granted asylum, and in December 2019 moved to Argentina. Later that month a Bolivian court approved a warrant for his arrest on sedition and terrorism charges.
On November 9, Morales made his return to Bolivia and walked across the border from Argentina to a hero's welcome after a protege, former Economy Minister Luis Arce, was sworn in as president after on winning election with 55% of the national vote.
No comments