Mexico says Spanish diplomats' cars blocked by Bolivia at La Paz embassy
Mexico’s government said Bolivian police had impeded the departure of Spanish officials visiting the Mexican ambassador in La Paz on Friday, widening a dispute over Bolivia’s surveillance of its diplomatic facilities.
Two Spanish diplomats were about to leave the Mexican ambassador’s residence when they were told their cars had been detained some minutes away and would not be allowed to re-enter the compound, Mexico’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Mexico says Bolivian authorities have harassed its diplomatic staff in a row centering on the Mexican government’s decision to grant asylum to nine people, now housed in its diplomatic facilities in La Paz.
Some of them are wanted by Bolivia’s conservative dictatorship.
Interim Bolivian President Jeanine Áñez took power last month after long-serving socialist leader Evo Morales resigned in a November 10 coup, and fled to Mexico City after a presidential election that the Organization of American States said was rigged in his favor.
Morales left Mexico on December 11 and is now in Argentina. He's announced a political rally for Sunday, in which he's expected to announce the Movement To Socialism (MAS) candidate for the upcoming presidential elections.
Neither Áñez nor Morales will be on the ballot for the election, whose date has been postponed numerous times.
At: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-bolivia/mexico-says-spanish-diplomats-cars-blocked-by-bolivia-at-la-paz-embassy-idUSKBN1YV17G
Bolivian police search cars after surrounding the Mexican Embassy in La Paz, with sharpshooters positioned nearby.
Vehicles of visiting Spanish diplomats were detained by police, and some were later harassed by right-wing civilians as police stood by.
Bolivian dictator Jeanine Áñez reportedly ordered the move in retaliation for the embassy's sheltering nine former officials in the deposed Evo Morales administration.
Mexican President Andrés López Obrador has asked the International Court of Justice to mediate.
