The ruling came after Morales, 65, missed a court hearing for the second time. The judge also froze his assets and banned him from leaving Bolivia. The case accuses Morales of trafficking, with prosecutors claiming the girl's parents used her connection to him for political benefits.

A judge in Bolivia ordered the arrest of the country’s former President Evo Morales over his alleged abuse of a teenage girl while he was in office. On Friday, the judge in the southern city of Tarija called for Morales’ arrest after Bolivia’s first Indigenous president skipped a hearing on his pre-trial detention for a second time.