MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th August, 2021) Bolivia's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday criticized the report of the Organization of American States (OAS), which reiterated allegations of manipulation of voting data in the 2019 presidential election, accusing the organization's Secretary General Luis Almagro of interfering in internal affairs.
"Mr. Almagro's statements constitute an act of interference in internal affairs of justice administration in the country [Bolivia], questioning a criminal investigation process carried out by the Bolivian judicial body and which has not been concluded yet. For this reason, the Bolivian State rejects this type of affirmation, pointing out that it is a democratic state in all its actions and the words and aggressions of Mr. Almagro in his statement seem to be directed once again to coordinating destabilization processes in Bolivia," the Foreign Ministry said.
The OAS Secretariat for Strengthening of Democracy previously published a report in which it reviewed an audit of the 2019 electoral process in Bolivia, commissioned by the country's prosecutor's office and carried out by the Spanish University of Salamanca. The OAS did not agree with the findings of the auditors, who called the identified violations in the operation of the two servers manifestations of negligence and an accident. The OAS considered the operation of these servers "manipulation of technological infrastructure and part of a network of lies, with the help of which they tried to deceive the OAS team and the entire population of Bolivia."
The Bolivian Foreign Ministry called the repeated statements of the OAS secretary general about fraud in the 2019 presidential elections biased, and malicious behavior that may carry consequences, inasmuch as it is an infringement of the sovereignty of a multinational state and was committed out of small sectoral interests, without the consent of the organization's member states.
In November 2019, Evo Morales resigned as president and left Bolivia under pressure from the military, after the Bolivian opposition, led by Carlos Mesa, claimed that there were mass violations during the October 2019 vote. The OAS was observing the presidential elections and found several irregularities. The report of the organization strengthened the influence of the opposition and contributed to the resignation of Morales.
Power in the country was assumed by former opposition vice-speaker of the senate, Jeanine Anez. Morales called the events a coup. Anez arranged for a new presidential vote, which took place on October 18, 2020. The election was won by Luis Arce from Morales' Movement for Socialism party (MAS).
