A right-wing Bolivian presidential candidate, Jorge Quiroga, who is currently leading the polls, is considering providing amnesty to a socialist political opponent, Evo Morales, in exchange for voters and support. Morales is accused of serious crimes, including sedition, statutory rape, and human trafficking. He is a former president of Bolivia and also a longtime ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Quiroga is not only considering working with a notorious member of Bolivia's Movement Toward Socialism party, but has also been critical of President Trump during his first term.
According to a Facebook post from early 2017, Quioga tells an interviewer that Trump's policy is found in his name. Trump, he says, is an acronym for Transfer, Remittances, Pared (Wall in Spanish), and Protectionism.
Quiroga said, in remarks roughly translated from Spanish, when asked about President Trump's policies, "Mr. Trump is a danger to our region because the foundation of his proposal lies in his name: T-R-U-M-P."
T – Forced Transfer of 11 million Latin Americans. Not just Mexicans: Latin Americans. Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, Bolivians, Salvadorans. The ‘T’ is for that forced relocation.
R – Remittances from Latin Americans that he wants to seize in the United States — to do what?
M – The Wall. He wants to build a wall as if we had diseases and needed to be quarantined. And on top of that, he wants the affected people to pay for it. The Soviets paid for their own wall. His proposal is deranged.
P – Protectionism. He wants to impose taxes, to tax Latin American exports or to modify NAFTA. That would affect all of us. No one will distinguish between imports from Mexico or Latin America. If NAFTA collapses, the Central America agreement collapses. The one with Mexico affects Peru, Chile, Colombia. It affects Latin America as a whole.
And here’s a better definition of the ‘P’: Pendejo.
Quioga himself was offered amnesty in 2018 by Evo Morales for his alleged role in signing agreements with oil companies without parliament's consent, but he turned it down, protesting his innocence. Now Quioga seeks to return the offer, but this time to an ally of socialism and a vile human being.
Morales, alongside Maduro, inherited and extended the Bolivarian socialist framework launched by Hugo Chávez. As president of Bolivia, Morales joined Venezuela and Cuba in forming the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) in 2006, a trade and cooperation bloc promoting socialist and anti-imperialist principles. This alliance brought the two countries into close political and economic coordination.
Both leaders supported one another in their times of crisis, with Maduro supporting and defending Morales when he was toppled by a coup, which Trump supported during his first term as president.
When Morales resigned amid election protests in 2019, Maduro condemned it as a “coup” and expressed solidarity with Morales, joining other left-wing regional leaders in supporting his claim. Later, during Maduro’s own chaotic tenure, Morales defended Venezuela’s government against Western sanctions and accusations of authoritarianism.
Not only would amnesty for Morales be immoral, but as one diplomat based in Brussels put it, "If a votes-for-amnesty bargain is confirmed, it will be read as political interference in the justice system and will complicate institutional cooperation with Bolivia.”
A right-wing figure like Quiroga offering amnesty to Morales damages the image of the political right in Latin America. This move supports corruption and undermines the fight for justice, making the right appear hypocritical and untrustworthy. It complicates U.S. efforts to promote rule of law and good governance in the region, especially amid growing conservative momentum, especially in Argentina, marked by Milei’s recent visit to the U.S.