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(CNN Spanish) - In the early hours of November 12, hours after resigning, the now former president of Bolivia Evo Morales arrived by plane from the Mexican Government to Mexico City where he was received as a political asylum.
A month later Morales left the country and arrived in Argentina, just two days after the new president Alberto Fernández, took office.
These are five key moments in a month of Morales outside his country.
1. Your arrival as an asylee to Mexico
After almost a month of protests in the streets and after 13 years, 9 months and 18 days in power, the hitherto president of Bolivia Evo Morales resigned his position and on November 11 he left his country at night to Mexico. A Mexican Air Force plane, flying through Peru, arrived in La Paz to take it out of the country.
But it could not be returned by the same route, because they could not return through Peru to refuel. So the Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrad, contacted the authorities of Paraguay so that the plane made a technical stop in Asunción, and then managed permits to use the airspace of Brazil, Ecuador and Peru. At 2 in the morning of that November 12, the plane took off from the Paraguayan capital to Mexico.
"It's like a trip through Latin American politics and how decisions are made," Ebrad said in detailing Morales' odyssey.
Upon arrival in Mexico City, Morales thanked the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, for "saving" his life.
A month later, Morales said that upon his arrival in Mexico he was "sad and broken" and thanked Mexico for their support and solidarity.
Morales was in Mexico as a refugee and political asylum seeker.
2. He was declared a distinguished visitor of Mexico City
On her second day in Mexico after receiving political asylum, the head of the Government of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum granted her the title of “distinguished guest”, amid cheers of those who called him “president”.
I am convinced that at any moment we must defend the principles for which one has always fought. But there are times when ambivalence, non-positioning and emptiness are symbols of cowardice. We are judged by history. @evoespueblo Distinguished Guest. pic.twitter.com/UqEqch04OV
- Claudia Sheinbaum (@Claudiashein) November 13, 2019
Sheinbaum supported AMLO's position that in Bolivia there was "clearly and without hesitation from the outset a coup against President Evo Morales."
The Secretary of Government highlighted “the pacifist, solidarity, hospitality and asylum vocation” of the country.
"With the conviction that he represented a supportive and libertarian people, we welcome Evo Morales to Mexico City," said Sheinbaum in Mexico City.
Morales thanked Mexico for his solidarity and said he was willing to return to his country if his supporters asked for it.
3. Morales was booed in Mexico when he gave a speech
Morales's arrival in Mexico was controversial. Only two weeks after arriving asylum, followers and opponents of the former president had a confrontation when Morales gave a speech at a UNAM activity in Mexico City on November 26.
Some protesters who were in the room raised banners against him and began to give him some boos that prevented the ex-president from moving forward with his speech. Once they removed those who spoke against the ex-president of Bolivia, Morales was able to continue and referred to what happened.
“This kind of problem we live every day that comes from the fascist and racist right, so that the brothers in Mexico know. That does not scare us. We have endured, the indigenous movement, more than 500 years this kind of aggressions and provocations, ”he said.
4. What happened during your stay in Mexico
In the month he spent in Mexico, Morales' political activity has not ceased. He has given interviews, talked repeatedly about the political and social crisis in his country and has repeatedly called for a national dialogue to pacify the country.
Meanwhile in Bolivia, political agreements have been finalized, which include the bench of the Movement To Socialism, the party of Morales, in the legislative assembly that allowed the enactment of a law calling for new presidential elections in the country with a new court electoral. [COMES FROM THE SCRIPT DE GLORIA CARRASCO]
A month after Morales' departure, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concluded that there were serious human rights violations during the political and social crisis that unleashed reports of electoral fraud during the October MOMeneral elections and the resignation of former President Evo Morales in November.
“The widespread socio-political violence that was triggered in the periods before and after the general elections, characterized by polarization, hostility and hatred in social relations, based on discrimination, intolerance and racism, has registered a series of serious violations of human rights of broad spectrum and unfortunate consequences, far beyond the context of social protest, at the most structural and fundamental level of Bolivian society, with profound repercussions on the daily life of the country, ”said the IACHR in the report.
During their visit, the IACHR delegation found that during the protests that began in October, more than 30 people died, more than 800 were injured and at least 360 were arrested. The commission highlights and condemns incidents in the cities of Sacaba and Senkata, which it describes as "massacres" after the death of 18 people was recorded in clashes between supporters, opponents of Morales and law enforcement.
According to the commission's report, repeated complaints were received about the excessive use of force by the Police and the Armed Forces, beatings, shots, or the indiscriminate use of tear gas or other objects.
5. He left Mexico for Argentina
A month after arriving in Mexico, Morales arrived in Argentina as an asylee, Argentine Foreign Minister Felipe Solá confirmed.
Solá explained that he granted asylum to five Bolivian citizens on Thursday night, including former president Morales, his former vice president Álvaro García Linera, former chancellor Diego Pary and former health minister Gabriela Montaño.
Morales and his companions will request that they be granted a political refuge that, according to Solá, will be approved this Thursday by the Ministry of Interior. The Bolivian ex-president cannot interfere in Bolivian politics, Solá said, as part of his commitment as a refugee.
A week earlier, on December 7, he had left on a “temporary trip” from Mexico to Cuba, as reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at that time.
According to Solá said Thursday, the process to receive Morales after his resignation from the presidency of Bolivia began a month ago, when the ex-president announced his decision to leave Bolivia. Solá said that at that time Morales applied for asylum in Argentina that was denied by then President Mauricio Macri.
Two sons of Morales are in Argentina as university students.
Upon leaving Mexico, Morales again thanked President López Obrador for "saving my life and for sheltering me" for a month. Morales said he arrived in Argentina "to continue fighting for the humblest and to unite the Great Country" and said he feels "strong and lively."
A month ago I arrived in Mexico, a brother country that saved our lives, I was sad and broken. Now I arrived in Argentina, to continue fighting for the humblest and to join the #PatriaGrande, I am strong and lively. I thank Mexico and Argentina for all their support and solidarity.
- Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) December 12, 2019
Evo Morales
