Foreign
BOLIVIA’S new interim government and lawmakers from ousted president Evo Morales’ party are preparing to work together to stage fresh elections and to restore peace following nearly a month of violent protests.
Interim President Jeanine Anez’s government and the Movement for Socialism (MAS) have held talks sponsored by the country’s Bishops’ Conference, the European Union (EU) and Spain, the daily Pagina Siete reported on Friday.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has also sent an envoy to Bolivia.
Morales, meanwhile, called for “a national dialogue which guarantees the return of our beloved Bolivia on the road to democratically restoring peace,” in a post published on Twitter.
Morales resigned on Sunday and went into exile in Mexico two days later after the Organisation of American States (OAS) reported irregularities in the Oct. 20 elections in which the leftist president claimed an outright victory against his centre-right challenger Carlos Mesa.
Senate vice president Anez then took power, saying she was the next in line after Morales, his deputy and the presidents of both chambers of parliament stepped down.
The government accepts many key demands of the MAS, such as guarantees that its leaders can move around safely, that there will not be a “witch hunt” of its supporters.
Another demand is that Morales can return to the country, Pagina Siete and the daily La Razon quoted Anez’s chief of staff Jerjes Justiniano as saying.
Morales has rejected Anez’s presidency and maintains that he remains in power, because Congress has not officially accepted his resignation.
He told the Mexican daily El Universal on Friday that he was hoping to return to complete his mandate, which expires on Jan. 22, and to organise elections in which he would no longer be a candidate.
Anez’s government had been calling for an end to protests triggered by fraud allegations on election day.
For weeks, the protests featured frequent clashes between Morales’ opponents and supporters, claiming at least 10 lives.
Pro-Morales rallies have continued since Anez took power, calling for his reinstatement as president.
“I don’t think any Bolivian wants to live in fear,” Anez told journalists on Friday.
The EU said that Bolivia’s “stability and social peace” were at risk and called for a “return to constitutional normality” as well as new elections to avoid a power vacuum.
The EU urges “all political and social actors to support such an institutional path and work for a peaceful reconciliation,” a statement issued by the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini said.
Moves made by the Bolivian interim government on Friday indicated it was willing to cut ties with its Latin American neighbours.
All Venezuelan diplomats have been ordered to leave the country because of their alleged interference with domestic matters, Bolivia’s interim foreign minister, Karen Longaric, announced.
The move marks a radical break with the policies of Morales, who was one of few remaining backers of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro.
Bolivia’s interim government has recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president.
Longaric also said Bolivia plans to leave the ALBA-TCP alliance – an intergovernmental organisation founded by Cuba and Venezuela – and is considering leaving the UNASUR Union of South American Nations.
Bolivian ambassadors appointed by Morales will also be relieved of their duties – with the exception of envoys to the Vatican and Peru, she said.
Longaric said there was evidence that Venezuelans took part in violent protests against the interim government, and that nine Venezuelans arrested possessed high-calibre weapons.
After four members of a Cuban medical team were arrested and accused of participating in pro-Morales protests in Bolivia, Havana’s Foreign Ministry announced it was withdrawing medical staff from the country.
The ministry denied that they had financed and organized demonstrations and said they had “strictly” carried out only humanitarian work.
Nicaragua’s leftist President Daniel Ortega earlier accused U.S. “imperialists” of having staged “a coup” in Bolivia and said such action could encourage people in Latin America to “seek arms to take power” in revolutions rather than through elections.
NAN
– Nov. 15, 2019 @ 10:55 GMT |
Tags: Bolivian gov’t Morales’ party to prepare new elections
