ZCZC
BFF-07
MEXICO-BOLIVIA-DIPLOMACY-SPAIN
Bolivia slams Spain’s bid to use arms in diplomatic row
LA PAZ, Dec 28, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Bolivia on Friday slammed its former
colonial ruler Spain for allegedly “trampling” its sovereignty in a deepening
diplomatic row.
The two countries have been in a spiraling spat since Mexico granted asylum
to Bolivian ex-president Evo Morales, who resigned on November 10 in the face
of mass protests, and granted refuge to top officials from his leftist
government at its embassy.
Police on Thursday stopped the entry of vehicles carrying hooded Spanish
personnel from entering the embassy in La Paz, which has become the center of
a diplomatic row after the embassy sheltered some 20 officials from the
former government, Foreign Minister Karen Longaric said.
She did not say if Bolivia had derailed what could have been an attempted
breakout of the Bolivian officials.
“Spanish embassy diplomatic and security staff in Bolivia are not
authorized to carry firearms or wear attire that conceals their identity,”
she said, stressing “these acts contravene diplomatic practices.”
Since Spain “abused the (diplomatic) privileges it has” under the Vienna
Convention, Bolivia sent a letter to the Spanish Foreign Ministry to report
the “serious trampling of Bolivia’s sovereignty.”
The diplomatic letter would be sent to the European Union, Organization of
American States and United Nations, Longaric said.
Mexico accuses Bolivia’s new interim government of responding with a
campaign of “harassment and intimidation” by deploying a large contingent of
police and intelligence officers outside the embassy. That move, according to
Mexico, violates the 1961 Vienna Convention on the protected status of
diplomatic missions.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard has said his staff would file a
complaint with the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
Since right-wing interim president Jeanine Anez took over from Morales, the
Bolivian authorities have issued arrest warrants for four of the ex-officials
inside the Mexican embassy, accusing them of “sedition” and “terrorism” in
connection with protest violence that killed 36 people.
Bolivia has been in turmoil since Morales, who had been in power since
2006, declared he won re-election to a controversial fourth term in a vote
that was marred by accusations of fraud.
Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, resigned after losing the
army’s backing and fled to Mexico, then Argentina.
BSS/AFP/SSS/0913 hrs