EU rejects Arce’s accusations of bloc’s involvement in 2019 crisis in Bolivia

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The European Union has responded this Thursday (30) to the accusations made by the Bolivian president, Luis Arce, that the European bloc participated in the 2019 crisis, which resulted in the departure of then-president Evo Morales, ensuring that at all times it played a role of peacemaker at the request of the Morales government itself.

“The EU firmly rejects the accusations of President Arce against the former EU ambassador in Bolivia, assuring that he participated positively during the rupture of the constitutional order in the context of the Bolivian crisis of 2019,” the community stated in a press release.

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The bloc insists that it limited itself to facilitating meetings between all political actors during the crisis, including the ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS). These movements took place with the leadership of the Catholic Church, after being explicitly requested by the Morales government, the European Union has underscored.

At all times, the contacts sought to pacify the country, which was going through a moment of extreme tension, said the EU, which has defended the dialogue platform launched in coordination with other countries that helped facilitate dialogue during the crisis.

The communiqué concludes with the EU’s commitment to establishing a constructive relationship with Bolivia in all areas of cooperation, based on mutual respect.

Before the United Nations General Assembly, Arce denounced the involvement of the “representative of the European Union” in the coup of 2019, a “rupture of the constitutional order” that he attributed to the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, and governments like Argentina.

In October 2019, Morales resigned from power and left the country following complaints of electoral fraud by the OAS and the pronouncement of the Army. The crisis unleashed clashes between supporters and detractors of the indigenous leader and the security forces that left 30 dead.

After a year of the interim presidency of Jeanine Añez, then ‘number two’ of the Senate, the MAS returned to power in the 2020 elections after winning 55 percent of the votes. Arce has argued that Morales’ fraud “was never proven” and that, after the 2019 elections, there was a “coup”.