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Mexico says Bolivian regime harassing diplomatic personnel after granting of asylum to Morales

Thursday, 26 December 2019 7:39 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 26 December 2019 7:45 AM ]

This file photo shows Bolivia’s ex-president Evo Morales waving on his arrival at the Ollin Yoliztli cultural center for a welcoming ceremony, in Mexico City, Mexico, on November 26, 2019. (Photo by AFP)

Mexico says the Bolivian regime is “harassing” and “intimidating” its diplomatic personnel in the Bolivian capital, La Paz, in what seems to be retribution for the granting of asylum by Mexico to former Bolivian president Evo Morales.

The Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that it had requested a meeting with the Bolivian charge d’affaires for Thursday to “explain the behavior of Bolivian authorities.”

Mexico City says Bolivia has, among other things, boosted police presence outside the Mexican diplomatic mission in La Paz since Monday, intimidating the diplomats.

Last month, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gave political asylum to Morales, who had been forced to resign under pressure from the country’s military.

Exiled in Mexico: Bolivia's Morales receives keys to Mexico City

Exiled in Mexico, Bolivia

Morales has since relocated to Argentina.

The Mexican Foreign Ministry’s statement also said nine people were being housed in diplomatic facilities in Bolivia under Mexico’s protection.

On Tuesday, the Mexican Embassy in La Paz wrote a letter to Bolivia’s Foreign Ministry, protesting that the number of police officers around its facilities had been increasing since November and that it had detected surveillance drones over the diplomatic buildings.

“More than protecting these sites and Mexican diplomatic personnel... they intimidate those staff and disrupt the peace and dignity of this diplomatic representation,” said the letter, released on Wednesday evening.

Morales, who had already been president since 2006, won his country’s presidential election in October, but the Bolivian military and opposition claimed that the election had been rigged, inciting deadly street protests.

The 60-year-old president, who enjoys a broad popular base both at home and in Latin America, nevertheless decided to step down and go into exile in Mexico amid threats of violence against him and with an apparent intention not to push the country toward further instability.

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