Bolivian Foreign Ministry Pledges to Let 24 Members of Morales Party Leave for Mexico

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Bolivian Foreign Minister Karen Longaric has said that her ministry will help 24 politicians from the party of former President Evo Morales to safely leave for Mexico, where they were granted asylum.

"The Mexican ambassador to Bolivia has sent us a note so that the diplomats who were granted asylum could leave the country for Mexico. We will deal with it in the coming days," Longaric said on Monday, as quoted by Bolivia’s Deber newspaper.

According to Longaric, 26 persons were initially set to receive asylum, but "apparently some of them rejected" the diplomatic protection.

She also declined to name the people in question, noting that they were "high-ranking figures" of Morales' Movement for Socialism (MAS) party.

Last week, media reported that the new Bolivian authorities had announced the creation of a special unit within the prosecutor's office that would be responsible for detaining lawmakers and other people linked to the MAS party.

Morales stepped down on November 10 and fled to Mexico after his re-election to a fourth term prompted protests. He asked for political asylum, claiming there were plots to kill him.

In the wake of a spree of high-ranking resignations, Jeanine Anez, the opposition speaker of the Bolivian parliament's upper chamber, declared herself the country's interim president. The Constitutional Court recognized her claim as legitimate.