Versión Español
Spanish – The complaint against the former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, for a case of pedophilia is only the tip of the iceberg. This scandal has uncovered what appears to be repeated behavior involving more than one minor. New pieces of the puzzle point to an alleged human trafficking network linked to his political party. This is how the former president has been choosing his “harem” of minors, according to El Diario.
In statements to the Bolivian publication, Paola Barriga, lawyer of the mother of one of the alleged victims, assured that there is evidence linking the Movement to Socialism (MAS) with a human trafficking scandal known as the Katanas case.
It is about the confession of two policemen sentenced for this scandal and the denunciations of mothers of minors who have had relations with Evo Morales. The accusations point to a former minister and a deputy of the MAS.
“Once again, the names of former MAS authorities are mentioned, the same ones that were mentioned in the Katanas case. It draws attention because everything is beginning to be re-articulated, and we can understand that evidently, these people who were recruiting these young women for Evo Morales, were responsible for the crime of trafficking. The police officers sentenced in the Katanas case indicated that they were working with an ex-minister and a MAS deputy. These mothers also point to the same authorities.”
Torture and rape
The Katanas case was a human trafficking and smuggling scandal that came to court on February 22, 2018. It was named after the nightclub in La Paz, Katanas, where the crimes were committed. Last July, the police officers identified as Jacinto F. G. and Freddy A. M. pleaded guilty. Both were sentenced to seven years in prison.
Lawyer Paola Barriga explained that these police officers were in charge of receiving young women, who came from other departments and from abroad to supposedly work as models and promoters, at the airport in La Paz. They were offered to earn up to 3,000 USD. It was all fake. Barriga claims that the police officers held their documents and took them to a place where they “tortured and raped them.
According to the lawyer, her client was forced to hand over her 13-year-old daughter at a meeting. “She comments that the mothers had to take their daughters between the ages of 12 and 15 to the meetings, they were obliged to take them so that he (Evo Morales) would choose them as part of a harem.”
More demands are emerging
Paola Barriga declared that between Tuesday and Wednesday, she would formalize a criminal lawsuit against Evo Morales for the crime of rape of a 13-year-old girl. She stressed that although the maximum sentence for that crime is 25 years, she will ask for the maximum penalty of 30 years because there are aggravating factors such as the fact that mothers were forced to take their daughters and hand them over.
There is already a lawsuit against Evo Morales for statutory rape and human trafficking filed last Thursday by the Ministry of Justice of the interim government. Since July 8, the authorities have been investigating the links between the former Bolivian leader and the young Noemí Meneses. The evidence points to the fact that they would have started a relationship when she was only 14 years old, and he was in office.
The scandal was brought to light by journalist Alejandro Entrambasaguas in the Spanish newspaper OK Diario. Entrambasaguas has revealed photographs, videos, and conversations that the Bolivian authorities found on the young woman’s phone. The most recent revelation is a compromising photograph which, as Noemí Meneses confesses in a statement, corresponds to her and Evo Morales’ feet.
Policía de Bolivia a la niña Noemí: “Tenemos una foto de sus pies con otros pies. ¿A quién corresponden?”.
Víctima pedófila de Evo Morales: “Los otros pies son de @evoespueblo”. Aquí tenéis la fotografía. Fue tomada cuando ella era menor y él aún presidente del país. pic.twitter.com/P9WXboLXUe
— Alejandro Entrambasaguas (@entrammbasaguas) August 24, 2020
Morales does not deny his “female companions”
The complaints do not stop there. On Monday, the interim government of Bolivia assured that it has evidence of the existence of a girl formally registered as the daughter of the former president. The irregularity lies in the fact that the mother is a teenager that Morales would have left pregnant when she was 15 years old.
The Spanish media that uncovered the scandal maintains that they contacted the former president to get his version, but Morales’ only response was: “I don’t talk about these things. He immediately cut off the call.”
The truth is that Evo Morales has not denied these relations. On Sunday, in an interview with the Bolivian radio station Kausachun Coca, he responded to the respect that he did not agree with the use of “female companions” in political matters.
