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(CNN) – Former Bolivian President Evo Morales returned to the country on Monday after spending nearly a year in exile in Argentina.
Morales, who ruled Bolivia for nearly 14 years, fled on November 11, 2019, amid allegations of election fraud. He denied the allegations and declared himself the winner of the October 2019 vote, but was ultimately forced to resign before leaving the country.
After a short stay in Mexico, Morales had been living in Buenos Aires since December 2019.
He decided to return to Bolivia after his socialist colleague Luis Arce won the Bolivian presidential election in October. Arce was sworn in as Bolivia’s new president on Sunday.
Arce, whom Morales had chosen as his successor, previously served as the country’s finance minister.
Evo Morales: ‘Now we are back and we are millions’
“When I left, I said:” We will come back and we will be millions. “Now we are back and we are in the millions,” Morales said after crossing the bridge that connects Bolivia and Argentina in the Bolivian city of Villazón, accompanied by Argentine president Alberto Fernández.
Bolivia’s interim government, which took power after Morales left the country, accused the former president of alleged sedition and terrorism, but the charges were dropped in October 2020.
Morales has already announced his intention to return to his home region of Chapare in central Bolivia; He plans to arrive there on Wednesday, exactly 365 days after his departure from the country.
Morales, who was the country’s first indigenous president, led Bolivia for nearly 14 years. He has been credited with reducing poverty and overseeing rapid economic growth, but his popularity has suffered as a result of allegations of election manipulation.
Bolivia has been very affected by the coronavirus. The economy is also in trouble. Unemployment has skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic and the International Monetary Fund expects GDP to decline by nearly 8% this year.
CNN’s Stefano Pozzebon reported from Bogotá and Mitchell McCluskey reported from Atlanta. Ivana Kottasová wrote in London.
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