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Mexico on Monday (November 11th) decided to offer political asylum to ex-Bolivian President Evo Morales, pushed the day before the resignation.
Through the voice of his Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico announced its decision to grant political asylum to the resigned Bolivian President Evo Morales . " His life and his physical integrity are under threat, " the foreign minister said at a press conference in Mexico City.
This decision follows a request from the former Bolivian head of state himself, said Marcelo Ebrard. " He asked us verbally and formally to grant him political asylum in our country, " he said. " Mexico has always distinguished itself throughout its history for protecting those who sought refuge, " he added in his statement .
Released by the Bolivian army after three weeks of violent protests against his reelection for a fourth term, Evo Morales presented Sunday night his resignation. The indigenous socialist elected for the first time in 2006 was one of the last representatives of the "pink wave" that swept through the turn of the 2000s on Latin America, making left turn Brazil, Argentina, Chile , Ecuador and Venezuela.
The leaders of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, as well as Argentine President-elect Alberto Fernandez and former Brazilian President Lula, all denounced a " coup d'etat " . Fearing the coming to power of a military government, Spain has condemned a process biased by the intervention of the armed forces and the police " which brings us back to past eras of Latin American history " .
Bolivia is today without a leader. The successors planned for Evo Morales by the Constitution all resigned with him. The second vice-president of the Bolivian Senate, opponent Jeanine Anez, meanwhile called under the Constitution to succeed Evo Morales, announced Monday when he arrived in Parliament the convening of a presidential election. " We already have a calendar. I believe that the population is demanding that we have a president elected on January 22, "she said, referring to the planned date, before the crisis, of the taking up of her duties by the next president of Bolivia.
The successors provided for by the Constitution in the event of the departure of the President have indeed resigned with him: Vice-President Alvaro Garcia, the President and Vice-President of the Senate and the President of the Chamber of Deputies.
The climate of violence has not calmed down. In the wake of the announcement of the resignation of the socialist president, the streets of La Paz, the capital, as well as the seats of administrative and political powers, were delivered to groups of thugs. Police and soldiers, in mutiny against Mr. Morales, remained in their barracks without intervention.
On Monday late afternoon, a crowd of angry supporters of the former president was heading to La Paz from the nearby town of El Alto, a bastion of Evo Morales. Wearing whipalas, the name of the flag symbol of indigenous peoples, and chanting "Now yes, a civil war! They were hundreds en route to the administrative capital, forcing the shops to close.
(With AFP)