Bolivian former president Evo Morales speaks in a press conference in the city of El Alto, Bolivia, Nov. 10, 2019. (Enzo De Luca/ABI/Handout via Xinhua)

Bolivia's interim government on Monday honored police from the Cochabamba department that went on strike a day before former president Evo Morales dramatically resigned in November 2019.

Morales quit in November and fled the country after three weeks of social unrest over his contentious re-election.

Interior Minister Arturo Murillo praised the police for being "the first line of containment" against what he described as "narcoterrorists."

Morales stood for an unconstitutional fourth mandate as president in October's election and was awarded victory after a highly suspicious 24-hour suspension of the live, transparent vote count.

As the protests raged against his re-election, police in Cochabamba - a hot-bed of support for Morales - went on strike.

An audit by the Organization of American States found Morales had been the beneficiary of vote rigging, and subsequently the military withdrew its support for the former trade union leader.

He fled to Mexico and a month later took up asylum in Argentina.

Now the 60-year-old is trying to return to Bolivia to stand for the Senate in May's general election, but it's not known when and how Morales will attempt to re-enter the country.

But there is a warrant out for Morales' arrest after the interim government accused him of sedition and terrorism for allegedly urging his supporters to lay siege to major cities including La Paz.

AFP