From left to right:  Jaime Alonzo Aparicio, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Bolivia to the OAS,  Luis Almagro, OAS Secretary General / October 5, 2020   Washington DC  /   Credit: Juan Manuel Herrera/OAS

DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Plurinational State of Bolivia today signed the agreement on privileges and immunities for the OAS electoral mission that will observe the general elections on October 18. The Permanent Representative of Bolivia to the OAS, Jaime Aparicio, said that his country faces “the most complicated, most difficult and most important elections in contemporary history.” “There is a lot of confidence in the majority of the population that the role of the OAS will be crucial, this role, as always, will also be supported by the European Union and by the Carter Center, and it is the best guarantee that these elections will be held with transparency, objectivity and integrity,” added the Bolivian diplomat.

For his part, the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, recalled that in the previous presidential election – on October 20, 2019 – the OAS Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) found irregularities and that an OAS audit confirmed irregularities and intentional manipulation by the authorities of the electoral result. “Long before the Mission’s report, long before the audit report, the Bolivian people said that there had been fraud and intentional manipulation. And the Bolivian people today will be the ones who have to find ways to guarantee peace in this electoral process, to avoid falling into the trap of polarization that is being created and to generate social spaces for unity so that this process can give what Bolivia needs and deserves – a democratically elected and legitimate President,” added Secretary General Almagro.

This will be the twentieth time that the OAS has sent an Electoral Observation Mission to Bolivia.

Former Bolivian president Evo Morales disqualified  from running as a candidate

Former Bolivian president Evo Morales was disqualified last month from running as a candidate to the Senate after a constitutional court in the capital La Paz rejected his participation in the October 19 elections. Morales, the country’s longest-serving president, was pressured to resign last November amid widespread protests over allegations he committed election fraud, charges that have since been disputed. Social unrest began after the electoral institution, which is controlled by the coup-born regime led by Jeanine Añez, Bolivia’s right-wing interim president  announced a new postponement of the elections. Initially, the general elections were scheduled for March 3. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext, however, the U.S.-backed regime postponed the elections twice.

Bolivian interim President Anez withdraws from election race

Añez has said she will not run in the upcoming election next month, in a move that is expected to strengthen opposition against the party of the longtime former president Morales.