- Title: Mexico president urges Bolivia to respect right of asylum
- Date: 27th December 2019
- Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (DECEMBER 27, 2019) (REUTERS) BOLIVIAN POLICE OFFICERS OUTSIDE OF MEXICAN EMBASSY IN BOLIVIA SIGNS THAT READS (Spanish) "MEXICAN EMBASSY" VARIOUS OF BOLIVIAN POLICE OFFICERS OUTSIDE OF MEXICAN EMBASSY IN BOLIVIA MEXICAN FLAG BOLIVIAN POLICE OFFICERS OUTSIDE OF MEXICAN EMBASSY IN BOLIVIA
- Embargoed: 10th January 2020 19:03
- Keywords: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Bolivia Jose Tuto Quiroga Mexico diplomacy embassy foreign policy
- Location: LA PAZ & COCHABAMBA BOLIVIA / MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
- City: LA PAZ & COCHABAMBA BOLIVIA / MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002BBR4WG7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Mexico on Friday (December 27) urged Bolivia's new conservative government to respect its right to grant asylum to nine people at its embassy in La Paz, days after complaining that Bolivian government surveillance there has grown excessive.
"The right of asylum must be guaranteed," Mexico's leftist president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said when asked about the disagreement in a regular news briefing.
On Thursday (December 26), Mexico said it was asking the International Court of Justice to mediate in the dispute, which has chilled relations between the two Latin American countries.
Bolivia's government, headed by interim President Jeanine Añez, a former senator, took power last month when long-serving leftist president Evo Morales resigned and fled to Mexico.
Morales quit under pressure from Bolivia's armed forces after a presidential election that the Organization of American States (OAS) said was rigged in his favour.
He quickly accepted an offer of political asylum from Mexico, putting a strain on ties between Mexico and the government headed by Añez, an opponent of Morales.
According to the Bolivian government, a former senior aide to Morales, Juan Ramon Quintana, is among the nine people who have taken asylum in the Mexican embassy.
The Bolivian government has not named all of the nine people inside the embassy. Those who have been identified, including Quintana, are allies of Morales and wanted by the government for crimes including sedition and armed revolt.
Morales left Mexico this month and is now in Argentina.
According to Mexico's government, Bolivia has issued arrest warrants for at least four of the people inside the Mexican embassy and says they must face justice.
(Production: Santiago Limachi, Monica Machicao, Rodolfo Pena Roja) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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