The majority of the European Parliament's political groups, including the GUE/NGL group, support the timely dispatch of an EU election observation mission to the forthcoming presidential elections that will be called in the near future, after the outgoing President, Evo Morales, fled to Mexico earlier this week (see EUROPE 12367/28).
On behalf of the EPP group, Spain’s Pilar del Castillo described the Bolivian presidential elections at the end of October, which had led to the highly controversial re-election of Evo Morales, as an “indisputable fraud”. She called for new, “credible” elections to be held with a European observation mission. “The crisis must be resolved by new elections with an independent and neutral arbitrator”, said Izaskun Bilbao Barandica (Renew Europe, Spain). Along these lines, Benoît Biteau (Greens/EFA, France) asked the EU to act to preserve the stability observed in Bolivia over the past 14 years and not only to covet the country’s lithium deposits.
The far right and the Conservatives didn’t mince words. Calling Mr Morales a “usurper”, Markus Buchheit (ID, Germany) castigated the left-wing political forces who are shouting about a “putsch”. According to Hermann Tertsch (ECR, Spain), Mr Morales “could not commit fraud as he used to do”, criticizing an ally of the Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, in cocaine trading and money laundering.
Only Manu Pineda (GUE/NGL, Spain) denounced a “coup d’état” in Bolivia. The Organization of American States (OAS) did not question Evo Morales’ victory, but the fact that he won by more than 10 percentage points, he argued.
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, recalled that Mr Morales had run for a fourth consecutive presidential term, with the favourable opinion of the Constitutional Court, but after losing a referendum to amend the Bolivian Constitution itself. She also noted the “irregularities” in the last presidential elections, including the blocking of the vote counting system for 20 hours.
The improvements observed in Bolivia - the decrease in poverty and increased participation of indigenous peoples in public life - can only be preserved through a peaceful solution that respects the Constitution and the Rule of law, through the preparation of the new presidential elections, Mrs Mogherini added.
Parliament will adopt a resolution on the political situation in Bolivia at the end of November. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)