Bolivia mends relations with Venezuela
Bolivia mends relations with Venezuela Three days after the inauguration of Bolivia’s new president, Luis Arce, announced on the 11th that he would restore diplomatic relations with Venezuela and Iran.
Arce posted on social media that day that the Bolivian government has received the letter of credential from the Venezuelan ambassador to Bolivia. He will repair bilateral relations and “strengthen strategic ties to promote the interests of the two peoples.”
A few hours later, Arce announced again that he had received the letter of credence from the Iranian ambassador to Bolivia, saying: “They will always be popular in Bolivia. We will continue to strengthen common projects that benefit the well-being of the two peoples.”
In the presidential election held on October 18 this year, Arce, as the candidate of the left-wing party for the Socialist Movement Party, defeated his opponent with 55.1% of the votes and was elected as the new president of Bolivia. He was sworn in as the administrative capital of La Paz on November 8. .
Evo Morales, founder of the Socialist Movement Party, was re-elected for three consecutive terms as president for 14 years. Arce has long served as Minister of Finance and Economy in his government. Morales announced his victory in the presidential election in October last year, but the opposition accused his camp of fraudulent elections and organized large-scale protest demonstrations. The military also put pressure on him. Morales resigned and took refuge in the country. The former second deputy of the Senate Speaker Jeanine Agnès became interim president.
According to Deutsche News Agency, after taking office, Añez alienated the main allies of the Morales government, including expelling all Venezuelan diplomats in Bolivia on the grounds of “suspicion of inciting riots by Morales supporters.” The former interim government announced the suspension of diplomatic relations with Cuba earlier this year.
The Arce government issued a statement on the 11th saying that Bolivia wants to “repair diplomatic relations damaged by the former interim government.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif opened a trip to Latin America last week, visiting Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia successively, and attended Arce’s inauguration ceremony on the 8th, seeking to strengthen cooperation and counter pressure from the United States. Reuters reported that Morales had planned to involve Iran in the development of lithium resources in Bolivia during his administration.
Morales returned from Argentina on the 9th and was welcomed by his supporters. Arce said earlier that Morales will not serve in the new government.
Morales delivered a speech at a rally in his hometown of Chimore on the 11th, calling on Latin American countries to firmly maintain control of their natural resources, saying that “Western industrialized countries only want to ensure that Latin Americans supply them with raw materials.”
