Bolivia’s former president accepts asylum offer, heads for Mexico

LA PAZ, Nov 12 (MENA) - Former Bolivian President Evo Morales, whose resignation amid allegations of fraud in October’s presidential election left his country without a leader and mired in growing chaos, departed Bolivia Monday night on a plane for Mexico, which offered him asylum, Russia Today reported.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard on Monday said his country decided to grant asylum “for humanitarian reasons, and given the urgent situation faced in Bolivia” after Morales made the request in a phone call.

“It pains me to leave the country for political reasons but…I will be back soon with more force and energy,” Morales vowed via Twitter shortly before boarding a Mexican government aircraft in the central Bolivian town of Chimoré, where he had holed up since resigning on Sunday.

A dangerous power vacuum prevailed in Bolivia, with Congress failing to name a new president and an overwhelmed police force clashing with pro-Morales mobs and looters. Late Monday, Bolivia’s armed forces announced that it had begun joint patrols with the police to help restore order in the capital, La Paz, and other cities.

Canceled flights, roadblocks and sporadic violence around the country on Monday kept numerous legislators from reaching La Paz, where they had planned to vote on whether to accept Morales’s resignation and name an interim president. But lacking a quorum, Congress was unable to act.