LA PAZ (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th November, 2019) Bolivia will seek to maintain friendly relations with Moscow and Beijing but avoid any ideological bias, the country's interim foreign minister, Karen Longaric, said on Thursday.
"We will strengthen relations with China and Russia in the spirit of kindliness, highlighting the country's interests and, above all, de-ideologizing these relations," Longaric told reporters.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has previously said that Moscow was interested in a politically strong and economically stable Latin America. Russia and Bolivia, in particular, have traditionally maintained a friendly relationship and mutually beneficial cooperation, according to Zakharova.
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales stepped down on November 10 and fled to Mexico after his re-election to a fourth term prompted mass protests. Most of Bolivia's senior officials resigned in his wake. The senate's second vice speaker, opposition lawmaker Jeanine Anez, eventually declared herself interim president. Morales has characterized the situation as a coup.
On Sunday, Anez signed a law nullifying the result of the October presidential election and setting the procedure and time frame for a new vote.
