Citing a lack of evidence, a Bolivian court has closed the October 2019 election fraud case against the former president and party leader Evo Morales. The court’s spokesperson, Jorge Cino says that “neither the election commission summaries nor the Organization of American States (OAS) report attached to the complaint contains any elements of evidence regarding the alleged fraud.”

In February, the La Paz prosecutor’s office opened new criminal proceedings against Morales in connection with alleged fraud in the October polls. Alvaro Garcia Linera, the former vice president, and three ex-ministers were also suspected of fraud.

Morales, Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, held office for 14 years and ushered in an era of unprecedented stability and growth in the South American country. He was seeking to nationalize the extraction of Bolivia’s lithium reserves but was forced to resign last November under pressure from the military and following the opposition’s challenging the victory that he had secured in the presidential election a month earlier.

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