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Evo Morales Will Face Charges if He Comes Back to Bolivia, Interim President Claims

© AP Photo / Mexico's Foreign MinisterThis photo released by by Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard shows Bolivia's former President Evo Morales holding a Mexican flag aboard a Mexican Air Force aircraft, Monday, Nov. 11, 2019
This photo released by by Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard shows Bolivia's former President Evo Morales holding a Mexican flag aboard a Mexican Air Force aircraft, Monday, Nov. 11, 2019 - Sputnik International
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Jeanine Anez, who declared herself the interim president on 12 November after Evo Morales and all other top officials resigned, earlier in the day said that Mexico, which has granted political shelter to the former head of state, should urge him to respect the protocols on asylum and call on him to abstain from fanning escalation.

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales will face charges if he comes back to Bolivia, the interim president has stated.

"He knows he has to answer to justice. There is an electoral crime. Nobody has thrown him out, but yes, there's a need for him to respond regarding electoral fraud, in addition to many allegations of corruption", Anez told journalists.

She continued on by saying that the negotiations on a new presidential election are continuing. “Many of those are people committed to the country and express the desire to jointly carry out this process", she added.

In the meantime, Evo Morales has stated that he would like to return to Bolivia as soon as possible if his resignation is approved.

"The United States had called the foreign minister [of Bolivia] to offer to send us a plane to take us where we wanted. I was sure it would be Guantanamo", Morales stated, smiling in an interview with Reuters.

Anez earlier claimed that the Bolivian Foreign Ministry would file an official protest with the Mexican government for granting asylum to the former president.

Bolivia Withdraws From Bolivarian Alliance for Peoples of Our America Bloc

Foreign Minister Karen Longaric, meanwhile, stated that Bolivia has withdrawn from the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and that 80% of the ambassadors who were appointed during the Evo Morales period are considered to have been chosen for political reasons.

"We left ALBA, so his [Diego Pary Rodriguez, the foreign minister of Evo Morales’ government who has refused to resign] action plan in Nicaragua, this ALBA scenario, does not interest us at all", Longaric told reporters, as quoted by the publication Erbol.

Longaric's statement comes after Diego Pary, who is currently in Nicaragua, stated that he would continue to serve as minister of foreign affairs, taking part in a meeting of the Political Council of ALBA. ALBA is an intergovernmental organisation based on the idea of the social, political, and economic integration of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Bolivian Senator Jeanine Anez gestures after she declared herself as Interim President of Bolivia, at the balcony of the Presidential Palace, in La Paz, Bolivia November 12, 2019 - Sputnik International
Legitimate Authorities in Bolivia Could Be Recognised Only After Elections - Russian MFA
Morales was forced to resign on 10 November 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 20 October, the opposition insisted that there were irregularities in the vote-counting process, with the Organisation of American States confirming the claim. Mexico, where Morales is currently staying, is among the countries that qualify the events in Bolivia as a coup.

Following Morales' resignation, opposition lawmaker Jeanine Anez, who was the deputy speaker of Bolivia’s upper house, declared herself the interim president. Late on 13 November, Anez appointed 11 ministers of her transitional cabinet to ensure that the work of government agencies continues and the next general elections can be organised.

At least 10 people have been killed in the mass protests since last month's vote, the public prosecutor's office announced, adding that people had mostly been killed with firearms.

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