Evo Used PDVSA Planes and Cars for Political Management Since Leaving Power

 The former president made at least seven trips on planes belonging to the Venezuelan state oil company. Morales also uses vehicles previously linked to the company to travel to communities in the country. Evo does not use commercial flights.

Evo Morales frequently uses planes and vehicles from the state oil company PDVSA. In November 2019, he ceased to be the president of Bolivia, and since then, he has traveled to different countries on aircraft belonging to the Venezuelan state. In Bolivia, he also moves around in vehicles owned by PDVSA. Experts note that Nicolás Maduro's regime continues to coordinate with the coca grower leader despite having a political alliance with Luis Arce.

PDVSA has at least 23 luxury planes in its possession, according to Venezuelan media. Three of them are in Cuba and are used by authorities in that country. None are stationed in Bolivia, but whenever Morales needs one, the aircraft arrives. This happened about seven times over three years.

For example, in November 2021, Evo traveled on a PDVSA plane to Buenos Aires for the presentation of the book Evo: Operación Rescate, written by Alfredo Serrano Mancilla. That aircraft is sanctioned by the United States. It is a Bombardier LearJet 45 with registration YV2716 that departed from La Paz and arrived at the Aeroparque of the Argentine capital.

Data indicates that the U.S. sanction on that aircraft was imposed on January 21, 2021, and publicly communicated by the White House. “The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified fifteen aircraft as blocked property of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) in accordance with Executive Order (EO) 13884, which blocks the property and interests in the property of the Government of Venezuela,” states the press release.

Since 2020, Evo Morales has made at least seven international trips on different planes from the Venezuelan state oil company. All were sent by Maduro's government to various airports in the country.

Trips to Caracas

One of Morales' most recent flights on a PDVSA plane was in April of this year. The coca grower leader traveled to Caracas, Venezuela, to participate in a meeting of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA). He made the trip on a private flight on aircraft YV1118.

This aircraft belongs to PDVSA and is also sanctioned by the U.S. government. In September 2021, the same aircraft with registration YV-1118 picked up Morales at the Cochabamba airport to take him to Venezuela. The same occurred in 2022.

On March 3, 2023, Morales arrived in Venezuela to take part in activities commemorating the tenth anniversary of Hugo Chávez's death. He traveled to that country on the same plane he used to go to Serrano Mancilla's book presentation in Buenos Aires.

“This is a case of corruption; President Nicolás Maduro is using Venezuelan resources for the whims of his buddies,” denounced Venezuelan opposition member Eduardo Battistini, who also criticized PDVSA for having to send planes to Maduro's allies.

On the ground, Morales also uses vehicles owned by the Venezuelan state. On January 12, 2023, the former president arrived at an event in the tropics of Cochabamba in a Land Cruiser SUV valued at over $120,000. Morales himself said that this vehicle was lent by the Venezuelan Embassy in Bolivia.

Recently, former Minister Iván Lima reported that another luxury SUV used by Morales during his march from Caracollo to La Paz was owned by PDVSA and that this company sold the vehicle to a 21-year-old woman at a significantly reduced price.

William Bascopé, a constitutional lawyer, believes that Morales continues to coordinate with Maduro and that Luis Arce takes a backseat to the interests of the Venezuelan leader.


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