In rejection of Luis Almagro’s interference in Bolivia …

More than 30 Latin American leaders, including former presidents, former foreign ministers and political leaders, have spoken out against “interference in the internal affairs” of Bolivia by the Secretary General of the Organization of the American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, who raised the need for reforms of the Bolivian judicial system, as well as a commission to investigate cases of corruption.

“The undersigned express our concern and rejection of the communications of OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro Lemes, which sets a dangerous precedent for an organization created to seek consensus, promote inter-American dialogue and peacefully resolve controversies in the hemisphere, ”said Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, from Brazil, among others; Fernando Lugo, from Paraguay; Rafael Correa, from Ecuador; José Mujica, from Uruguay; Evo Morales himself, from Bolivia; the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel; former Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Taiana; and the president of the Parlasur Democracy Observatory, Oscar Laborde.

The signatories held a virtual meeting today, where they approved the declaration. Former Presidents Ernesto Samper of Colombia also participated; Leonel Fernández, from the Dominican Republic; Manuel Zelaya, from Honduras; Salvador Sánchez Cerén, from El Salvador; and Álvaro Colom and Vinicio Cerezo, from Guatemala.

“Luis Almagro shows interference in the internal affairs of the Plurinational State of Bolivia by proposing, among other things, the creation of an international commission charged with investigating allegations of corruption and reforming the judicial system,” they said. stated in the press release. They stressed that “these statements go well beyond his mission as secretary general of the regional body and ignore the functioning of the inter-American system.”

They also warned that “the Secretary General must refrain from making unilateral statements in which all members of the organization are involved, without respecting the collegial nature of his mandate and must not interfere in the internal affairs of member states of the OAS “.

The letter came on top of the rejection of Almagro’s role expressed last week by the Andean Parliament and also by the President of Mexico, Andrés López Obrador.

“ We cannot ignore or forget the responsibility of the OAS, in particular that of its Secretary General, Luis Almagro, with the report on the electoral process of 2019 – the content of which must be audited – which ended in a coup d’etat with regrettable consequences for Bolivia, breaking democracy and the rule of law, with serious violations of human rights, with massacres and assassinations, with political persecutions and prosecutions ”, declared Latin American leaders in the document.

Below is the full text of the declaration, with all of its signatories:

Rejection of interference in Bolivia

The undersigned express our concern and our rejection of the communications of the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro Lemes, which sets a dangerous precedent for an organization created to seek consensus, promote inter-American dialogue and the peaceful settlement of disputes. . hemisphere.

In this statement, Luis Almagro manifests interference in the internal affairs of the Plurinational State of Bolivia by proposing, among other things, the creation of an international commission to investigate allegations of corruption and reform the judicial system. These statements go far beyond his role as secretary general of the regional organization and ignore the functioning of the inter-American system.

The Secretary General should refrain from making unilateral statements involving all members of the organization, without respecting the collegial nature of his mandate, and should not interfere in the internal affairs of OAS member states.

We cannot ignore or forget the responsibility of the OAS, in particular that of its Secretary General, Luis Almagro with the report on the electoral process of 2019, the content of which must be audited, which ended in a blow. State with regrettable consequences for Bolivia, breaking democracy and the rule of law, with serious violations of human rights, massacres and assassinations, with political persecutions and prosecutions.

That is why we vehemently denounce and reject this new maneuver against a democratically elected government. A simple and direct intervention, similar to what our peoples have suffered in the past. In this case, the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, overwhelms the Bolivian institutions and does not know the results of the elections held in October 2020 which allowed our brother country to return to the democratic path.

We call on OAS member states to reject this type of action that undermines Latin American and Caribbean democracy, endangers peaceful coexistence and violates the sovereignty of independent states.

At the same time, we ratify the importance of respect for the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples, it is essential for peaceful coexistence between States, within the framework of the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.

In this context, we express our deepest concerns regarding the recent statements by the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, who is unaware of the institutional democratic recovery and intervenes on issues specific to Bolivians.

Word:

Past presidents

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil

Fernando Lugo. Paraguay

Dilma Rousseff, Brazil

Rafael Correa, Ecuador

José Pepe Mujica, Uruguay

Evo Morales Ayma, Bolivia

Ernesto Samper, Colombia

Leonel Fernández, Dominican Republic

Manuel Zelaya, Honduras

Salvador Sánchez Cerén, El Salvador

Álvaro Colom, Guatemala

Vinicio Cerezo, Guatemala

Former Chancellors

Jorge Taiana, Argentina

Celso Amorim, Brazil

Jorge Lara Castro, Paraguay

Rodolfo Nin Novoa, Uruguay

Diego Para, Bolivia

Ricardo Patiño, Ecuador

Guillaume Long, Ecuador

Hugo Martínez Bonilla, El Salvador

Latin American personalities and authorities

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize winner

Oscar Laborde, Parlasur Democracy Observatory, Argentina

Alberto Grillon, Senator (MC), Paraguay

Eduardo Valdes, Committee for External Relations, Chamber of Deputies, Argentina

Gleisi Hoffmann, Federal President and President of the PT, Brazil

Alejandro Moreno Cárdenas, President of COPPPAL

Oscar Parrilli, National Senator, Argentina

Daniel Caggiani, National Assistant and Vice-President of Parlasur, Uruguay

Adolfo Mendoza, President of the Andean Parliament, Bolivia

Carlos Filizzola, national senator, Paraguay

Mónica Valente, Executive Secretary of the São Paulo Forum

Juan Pablo Letelier, Committee for External Relations of the Senate of Chile

Esperanza Martínez, National Senator, Paraguay

Iván Cepeda, national senator, Colombia

Jorge Querey Rojas, National Senator, Paraguay

Fernando Haddad, former presidential candidate of the PT, Brazil

Citatli Hernández, Secretary General MORENA, Mexico

Paulo Rocha, Senador, Brazil

Víctor Santa María, MP from Mercosur, Argentina

Marco Enriquez Ominami, Puebla Group

Elvino Bohn Gass, federal deputy, Brazil

Dolores Gandulfo, Electoral Observatory of COPPPAL