LA PAZ, Bolivia – Bolivian police say they have arrested a political activist and television host for allegedly inciting riots against President Evo Morales.

Local opposition party leader Jorge Melgar is accused of heading a mob that sacked government offices and seized a small airport in the Amazonian town of Riberalta last month.

Assistant Police Secretary Ruben Gamarra also accuses Melgar of inciting a crowd that threw rocks at a Venezuelan airplane last year.

Melgar said Tuesday he had been covering the riots as a journalist and did not incite violence.

Bolivian media have played excerpts of Melgar's television show in which he refers to Morales' supporters as “(expletive) Indians.” Morales is Bolivia's first indigenous president.