MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th December, 2019) Security officers around the Mexican embassy in the Bolivian capital city of La Paz are openly monitoring people who seek asylum in Mexico and assured the immunity of the diplomatic mission is respected, Foreign Minister of Bolivia's interim government Karen Longaric said on Tuesday.
On Monday, the Mexican Foreign Ministry expressed deep concerns about so many Bolivian intelligence and security services personnel monitoring its embassy in La Paz and attempts to detain and inspect the ambassador's vehicle. The ministry also added that this activity, tantamount to an invasion of the embassy, went against Article 22 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
"As for the possibility that the [Bolivian] authorities or security officers will get into the diplomatic facilities of Mexico, I should say that it is absolutely impossible," Longaric said at a press conference.
According to the minister, the high concentration of law enforcement officers around the embassy is connected with the fact that there are people who await the Mexican authorities' decision on requests for extradition.
Under pressure to resign from the protesting public and nation's military, Bolivian President Evo Morales stepped down from his fourth term in office on November 10 and fled to Mexico. Most of Bolivia's senior government officials also resigned and sought asylum in the Mexican embassy in La Paz. In the meantime, the Senate's second vice speaker, Jeanine Anez, declared herself interim president, and the new authorities announced a presidential election for mid-March.
