Bolivia investigates ex-president Evo Morales over alleged ties to 2009 killings

Bolivia’s authorities are investigating Evo Morales and former vice-president Álvaro García Linera over four alleged crimes: murder, abuse, torture, and unlawful detention. The inquiry concerns a 2009 hotel raid in Santa Cruz that killed three foreign citizens and left two others alive.

Acting attorney general José Armando Urioste told the supreme court that authorities were gathering evidence against both former leaders. The investigation followed a complaint by rightwing lawmakers Tomasa Yarhui and Rodrigo Antonio. Morales was president when the raid happened, and he said he had ordered the foreigners’ detention.

The inquiry is preliminary, so the allegations have not been proved in court. It comes while Morales is in hiding from two active arrest warrants involving protests and an alleged minor-trafficking case, which he denies. Neither Morales nor García Linera has commented on this investigation.

The raid killed three people: Eduardo Rózsa Flores, Michael Dwyer, and Árpád Magyarosi. They were shot dead by police at a hotel in Santa Cruz in 2009. Their deaths form the central violent event behind the current investigation into former Bolivian leaders.

Two other men survived: Mario Tadic and Elöd Tóásó. Tadic was a Bolivian-Croatian citizen, while Tóásó was from Hungary. Both reported being tortured after their arrest. Their accounts later helped bring the case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

The case remains politically and legally significant. In 2021, the commission concluded that Bolivia’s government had violated human rights. Acting attorney general José Armando Urioste is now gathering evidence over alleged murder, abuse, torture, and unlawful detention connected with the raid.

Morales’s administration claimed Eduardo Rózsa Flores was leading efforts to promote a separatist movement. The government said the campaign received funding from Santa Cruz’s rightwing economic elite. This explanation framed the people in the hotel as threats to Bolivia’s unity and security.

During an official visit to Venezuela, Morales told the press that he had ordered the foreigners’ detention. He called them “mercenaries.” Police then raided the hotel in Santa Cruz, killing Rózsa Flores, Michael Dwyer, and Árpád Magyarosi, while Mario Tadic and Elöd Tóásó survived.

The government’s stated justification is now being examined alongside allegations of torture and unlawful detention. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concluded in 2021 that the government had violated human rights. The current investigation will gather evidence about what officials knew and ordered.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concluded in 2021 that Bolivia’s government had violated human rights in this case. The finding followed a complaint brought by family members and victims after the 2009 hotel raid and the survivors’ reports of torture.

The case involved three deaths and two arrests. Police shot Eduardo Rózsa Flores, Michael Dwyer, and Árpád Magyarosi. Mario Tadic and Elöd Tóásó survived, but reported being tortured after their arrests. The commission’s conclusion therefore placed the government’s conduct under international human-rights scrutiny.

That conclusion does not itself determine every criminal allegation in the new inquiry. Acting attorney general José Armando Urioste is gathering evidence against Morales and García Linera over alleged murder, abuse, torture, and unlawful detention. The latest investigation could revisit official responsibility for the raid and its aftermath.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is a regional human-rights body that examines claims that governments violated protected rights. It can receive complaints from victims and families, assess evidence, and publish conclusions about state conduct. Its role is to provide scrutiny beyond a government’s own institutions.

In this case, family members and victims brought the hotel-raid case to the commission. After examining the matter, it concluded in 2021 that Bolivia’s government had violated human rights. That conclusion addressed the state’s conduct, including the context of the killings, arrests, and reported torture.

A commission finding is important evidence and public accountability, but it is distinct from a criminal court conviction. Bolivia’s current preliminary investigation must still gather evidence about individual responsibility. It names Morales and García Linera over alleged murder, abuse, torture, and unlawful detention.

A reported order matters because it may show that Morales authorized the foreigners’ detention before the hotel raid. If investigators verify the order, they can compare it with what happened afterward, including three deaths and the survivors’ reports of torture. That evidence could help establish who directed the operation.

Morales told the press during an official visit to Venezuela that he had ordered the foreigners’ detention. Police later raided the Santa Cruz hotel, shooting Eduardo Rózsa Flores, Michael Dwyer, and Árpád Magyarosi. Mario Tadic and Elöd Tóásó survived and reported torture after arrest.

An order alone would not prove that Morales committed murder, torture, or unlawful detention. Investigators would need evidence about its wording, purpose, implementation, and officials’ conduct. The preliminary inquiry is gathering such evidence against Morales and former vice-president García Linera.

Torture means deliberately causing severe physical or mental pain, often to punish, intimidate, or obtain information. Unlawful detention means holding someone without a valid legal basis or required safeguards. Due process means the state must follow fair, established procedures when investigating, arresting, or punishing people.

These principles matter because governments possess police, prisons, and weapons. In this case, three people were shot dead during a police raid, while two survivors reported torture after arrest. Investigators are examining whether detention and treatment were lawful, and whether official decisions contributed to abuses.

The rule of law requires public power to stay within legal limits. It protects people from arbitrary arrest, coercion, and state violence. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concluded in 2021 that Bolivia’s government violated human rights. The new inquiry may test individual responsibility for alleged abuses.