Report reveals that a projectile was fired at the plane that took Evo Morales out of Bolivia in 2019

According to the Mexican Air Force (FAM), the pilot who brought Evo Morales out of Bolivia in November 2019 revealed he saw “a light trail similar to the characteristic of a rocket” pass near the plane in which he was carrying the former Bolivian president, after taking off from Cochabamba airport.

After seeing the wake, the pilot rotated the aircraft in the opposite direction to that from which he was coming to avoid the impact. At that moment he noticed that he had made a satellite dish on the ground and it was already starting to descend without having reached the height of 914 meters that the plane had.

In his testimony, the pilot stated that, “in the case of a projectile, the point from which it was launched could be located near Cochabamba airport“, the place from which he had started.

The man in charge of driving the plane also detailed that after landing at the airport to pick up Morales, he observed a member of the Bolivian armed forces. aim an RPG rocket launcher on the plane.

He also stressed that the incident had not been communicated to the crew to avoid an increase “in the tension of the diplomatic mission, which was seeking save the ex-president and give him asylum in Mexico“.

This information, which was published by the NTR Zacatecas portal, is part of a report by the Defense of the National Secretariat that was published in the latest book by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

In addition to recounting the incident of a possible projectile launched against the aircraft, the pilot recounted the extremely hot scene at the airport which preceded the take-off and departure from Morales from Bolivia.

Hits, screams and tension

According to the report, there were already armed people at Cochabamba airport by the time the plane arrived to pick up Morales. Despite this, the former president managed to get on the ship with two companions

The plane was ready to take off, but he was refused permission at the last minute, and he had to return to the terminal. Witnesses said more people gathered at the scene and there were attempts to remove Evo Morales from the plane.

The pilot attempted to get off the plane to contact the Mexican Secretary of National Defense and advise him of the situation. After failing in his attempt, he had to confront the group that wanted to oust the former president. He was standing on the plane’s access ladder, where he was beaten and threatened by those present.

“They ordered him to raise his arms and tell him to get Evo Morales off his plane. At this point, another of the individuals approached him from behind and hit him in the lower back with the butt of a long weapon, type Garand, so that the pilot turned to the left. to face it (…) ”, is explained in the report.

It was during this tense exchange, which lasted about 10 minutes, that the pilot saw a person point a rocket launcher at the plane at all times, and asked him to lower it.

Finally, a Bolivian general gave the clearance to take off from the plane, with the warning that had 30 minutes to leave the airspace, and that after this period, “he would no longer be responsible for the safety of the occupants or the integrity of the aircraft if this instruction was not respected”.