Bolivia's Self-Proclaimed President Broke Diplomatic Relations With Venezuela

The “interim” Chancellor of the de facto government of Bolivia, Karen Longaric, announced on Friday the rupture of diplomatic relations with Venezuela.

The new minister, sworn in by the self-proclaimed president, Jeanine Áñez, explained that they will expel all diplomatic personnel from Caracas, posted in La Paz.

“They will be given a deadline to leave the country, for having been involved in internal affairs of the State,” Longaric said.

According to the official of Añez, Venezuelan citizens linked to the embassy were “undermining internal security” in Bolivia, which, she says, is a “violation of diplomatic norms.”

Arrest of alleged Venezuelans

The announcement of the break was made after a press conference, where the de facto authorities reported that about nine citizens, allegedly Venezuelans, were arrested and accused of instigating protests against the dictatorship. No further details were provided such as names and causes of their detention.

According to the police, these people were found with heavy caliber weapons.

“Bolivia will not tolerate any interference from the government of Venezuela,” said a minister of the Áñez government, Arturo Murillo. This resembles the captured of 19 alleged “agents” by Lenin Moreno’s government during the unrest that country suffered 8 weeks ago. Later the “agents” were released and were identified as Venezuelan Uber drivers.

A day earlier, Murillo had said they would initiate a “hunt” against Cubans, Venezuelan citizens and people of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP), which according to de facto authorities are involved in subversive activities in the country.

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Earlier, Cuba denounced the detention, “under slanderous accusations”, of four Cuban health workers by the de facto regime in Bolivia.

This same Friday, Longaric also announced the exit of Bolivia from the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), an organization in which it participated with Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and other countries in the region.

Recognition between the self-proclaimed

This Thursday, the de facto government Minister of Communication, Roxana Lizárraga, said that the administration of Áñez does not recognize Nicolás Maduro as president of Venezuela, but the opponent and also self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaidó, as the country’s chief executive.

A day earlier, Áñez, who proclaimed herself after the coup against President Evo Morales, thanked, through Twitter, the recognition of Guaidó after her self-appointment as president and invited him to appoint the new diplomatic staff in La Paz.

Source URL: La IguanaTV with OT content

Translated by JRE/EF