The Albany Gazette - Bolivian ex-president accuses govt of ignoring dialogue offer

Morales made the accusation on his second day of a hunger strike, which he launched demanding the government negotiate with him.

"I asked for immediate dialogue... and the government's response was to arrest... comrades and take them to La Paz," he said in a brief interview with AFP.

Morales's supporters began blocking roads starting last month to prevent his arrest on what the ex-leader calls trumped-up rape charges aimed at thwarting his political comeback.

Then on Friday his supporters took more than 200 military personnel hostage in the central Chapare province, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Separately, police arrested 66 people, adding to the dozens who have been apprehended since the roadblocks began on October 14.

Close presidential aide Maria Nela Prada said said Saturday that the state ombudsman's office is managing a dialogue.

The government agrees to talk but only "to address issues that concern the executive branch and not other state bodies," she said.

Morales, 65, was in office from 2006-2019, when he resigned under a cloud after elections marked by fraud.

Despite being barred from running again, Morales wants to challenge President Luis Arce, his former ally, for the nomination of the left-wing MAS party in elections next August.

Prosecutors meanwhile have announced Morales is under investigation on suspicion of statutory rape, human trafficking and human smuggling over his alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2015.

In 2016, the girl gave birth to a daughter, whom Morales is accused of fathering.

Morales, who has holed up in the rural Chapare region, has called the accusations a lie.

(B.Ramirez--TAG)