“The theft of my mobile phone was the result of an act involving the Minister of the Interior (Fernando del Castillo) and his security service (police officers),” Morales wrote on his Twitter account.
He added that “we would not like to think that this is part of a planned attack to harm us.”
The political event of the ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS) took place on Sunday in the departmental town of Santa Cruz (East). He was surrounded by his gunmen and delivered a speech from an impromptu proscenium.
The theft of my mobile phone took place in the presence of a government minister and his guards. This is happening to us for the first time in all these years of political activity. We would not like to think that this is part of a planned attack to harm us.
— Evo Morales Aima (@evoespueblo) August 29, 2022
Morales (2006–2019) had previously been publicly critical of Minister del Castillo’s actions and his MAS party asked President Luis Arce for his resignation, although the President did not back these claims.
He says he has “nothing to hide”
The former Aymara ruler also indicated that he had “nothing to hide”, but that “we will condemn any attempt to use fraud or misrepresentation against us”. Del Castillo did not comment.
Influential MAS MP Juanito Angulo noted that “this is the cell phone of an important historical leader, a former president, and of course he has important information.”
He even assured that in the actions of the ruling party “there are infiltrators” from the right and that he suspects that they must have the phone.
The theft of the device prompted complaints from the opposition that the government was sending a number of policemen to investigate the case and search for the cell phone.
Opposition MP José Carlos Gutiérrez said that “the mobilization carried out by the police in connection with the loss of a mobile phone is impressive.”
In his opinion, this whole demonstration “attracts attention”, “because it seems that this cell phone is a gold mine to know all his political and trade union connections.”