Bolivia interim leader threatens Morales with charges

La Paz, Nov 16 (AFP/APP): Bolivia’s interim leader Jeanine Anez said Friday that exiled ex-president Evo Morales would have to “answer to justice” if he returns, as five of his supporters were killed in fierce clashes with security forces.

Morales resigned and fled to Mexico after losing the support of Bolivia’s security forces following weeks of protests over his disputed re-election that has seen 15 people killed and more than 400 wounded.

“He knows he has to answer to justice. There is electoral crime. There are many allegations of corruption in his government,” Anez told journalists in La Paz.

The former president has said he was willing to return to bring peace to Bolivia.

Five Morales supporters died Friday outside Cochabamba in central Bolivia, a political stronghold for the ex-president, as thousands of coca growers tried to reach the city to join a protest against Anez.

But they were blocked by police, who stopped them from crossing a bridge.

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An AFP correspondent saw the bodies at a hospital, though authorities did not report any deaths in the clashes, only that 100 people were detained. Media reports said eight were wounded.

The protesters carried “weapons, guns, Molotov cocktails, homemade bazookas and explosive devices,” Cochabamba police commander Colonel Jamie Zurita said.

“They used dynamite and deadly weapons like the Mauser 765 (rifle). Neither the armed forces nor the police are equipped with such a caliber, I am worried,” he said.

The crowd was dispersed after dark by riot police, with the support of the army and a helicopter.