Bolivia’s political tensions are escalating as former president Evo Morales defies a ban on his candidacy and mobilises supporters to demand his return to power. On June 3, clashes between protesters and police in the central region of Cochabamba, a traditional Morales stronghold, left at least 10 officers injured, including six in dynamite blasts in the village of Bombeo, according to a statement by deputy citizen security minister Carola Arraya, as reported by AFP.

Protesters affiliated with the country’s powerful cocalero (coca farmers) unions have blocked roads and warned that “without Evo, there are no elections,” ramping up pressure on President Luis Arce’s government. The demonstrators accuse Arce, a former ally of Morales turned foe, of using state institutions to sideline the erstwhile leader and blame him for growing economic instability, including widespread fuel shortages and soaring food prices.

Morales, who led the country from 2006 to 2019, was barred from running after Bolivia’s Constitutional Court reaffirmed the two-term limit, blocking his attempt to secure a fourth term. The electoral tribunal subsequently rejected his application to register for the upcoming general elections. In addition to his disqualification, Morales is under investigation in a human trafficking case, further hindering his political return.

President Luis Arce, who served as Morales’s finance minister, responded by accusing his former mentor of trying to destabilise the country. In a message published on social media, Arce claimed Morales was willing to “shut down cities” and “sabotage elections” to impose an “illegal candidacy,” as reported by Infobae.

The long-running confrontation has laid bare the deepening split within the ruling leftist Movement for Socialism (MAS), which fractured into competing factions. Morales and Senate president Andrónico Rodríguez have both been left without valid party platforms, while the MAS’s official candidate trails in the polls. Analysts cited by El País warn that the ongoing fragmentation could marginalise Bolivia’s indigenous majority—once the core base of MAS—and undermine voter confidence ahead of the general elections scheduled for August.