After his resignation had been speculated: What's going on with Evo Morales? Now the Bolivian ex-president claims to have gone into exile in Mexico. "Sisters and brothers, I'm leaving for Mexico," he wrote on Twitter on Monday. "It hurts me to leave the country for political reasons, but I will always take care of it, soon I will come back with more strength and energy."
Previously, Mexico had declared Morales grant asylum on humanitarian grounds. The life of the ex-president is in danger in Bolivia, said Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard. Mexico had sent a plane of his Air Force to pick up Morales in Bolivia.
Under pressure from the military, Morales resigned only three weeks after his controversial re-election on Sunday. The Socialist and first indigenous president of Bolivia had declared himself the winner in the first round after the vote on 20 October, although the opposition and international observers posted serious doubts. His opponents accused him of electoral fraud. The Prosecutor General's Office announced that it was investigating members of the electoral tribunal for irregularities in the election.
Again and again there is violence on the streets of the country
Following the resignation of Morales, Bolivia's designated interim president Jeanine Añez has announced new elections. In the capital, La Paz, she said that "on January 22, we will have an elected president." The 52-year-old Senator also called for an end to the week-long violent protests. On Tuesday, the deputies should set in motion a corresponding process. The resignations of Morales and his ministers had left a power vacuum in the country.
Since then, street protests have led to fierce clashes between the two camps almost daily. At least three people were killed so far.