MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th November, 2019) The Mexican Foreign Ministry has pledged to abstain from restricting former Bolivian President Evo Morales' freedom of expression, responding to Bolivian interim President Jeanine Anez' protest against his public speeches.
Anez, who declared herself interim president on Tuesday after Morales and all top officials resigned, has said that Mexico, which has granted political shelter to the former president, should urge him to respect the protocols on asylum and call on him to abstain from fanning escalation. According to her, the Bolivian Foreign Ministry will file an official protest with the Mexican government.
"Article VII of the [Organization of] American [States'] Convention on Territorial Asylum ... stipulates that the freedom of expression of thought cannot be restricted and that the mentioned right cannot be ground of complaint by a third nation regardless of the character of statements," the ministry said in an information note for media.
Morales was forced to resign on Sunday under pressure from the armed forces, following violent protests against his re-election. While the former president claimed victory in the first round of the vote, held on October 20, the opposition insisted that there were irregularities in the vote-counting process, and the Organization of American States confirmed the claim. Mexico, where Morales is currently staying, is among the countries that qualify the events in Bolivia as a coup.
