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The outgoing government of Bolivia invited Juan Guaidó, opposition leader in Venezuela, at the inauguration of the recently elected president Luis Arce, confirmed this Friday the Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Relations.
“Your presence will further strengthen the traditional ties of friendship, cooperation and solidarity that exist between Venezuela and Bolivia”says the note signed by the chancellor Karen Longaric.
The letter is addressed to Guaidó, considering him “president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
As president of the Venezuelan Parliament -the sole power in the hands of the opposition-, Guaidó claimed in January 2019 the presidency in charge after the chamber declared President Nicolás Maduro a “usurper”, accusing him of having been fraudulently reelected in May 2018.
The outgoing government of Bolivia, headed by the interim president Jeanine Áñez, recognizes Guaidó as the president in charge of Venezuela, like fifty other countries.
Thus, the Bolivian Foreign Ministry confirmed this week that Maduro is not invited to the inauguration of Arce, dolphin of former leftist president Evo Morales (2006-2019).
Maduro is a close political ally of Morales and his Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS) party.
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The MAS expressed annoyance at the gesture of the outgoing government, despite the establishment of a transition commission to coordinate the organization and protocol of Arce’s inauguration ceremony on November 8.
Last Sunday, Maduro reported that he had a meeting with Morales during a fleeting visit by the former Bolivian president to Caracas.
The Bolivian elections of October 2019, in which Morales aspired to a fourth term, were annulled due to allegations of fraud. Amid violent riots, Evo resigned and went into exile in Argentina.
Then, Áñez assumed the interim presidency and in November he broke relations with the Maduro government, which had been very close during the 14 years of Morales’ rule.
The president denounced Venezuelan interference in the internal affairs of Bolivia and also ordered the exit of the political-economic bloc Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), promoted by the late leftist president Hugo Chavez.
The Bolivian Foreign Ministry expects to send some “150 invitations for heads of state” and leaders of international organizations to attend Arce’s inauguration. Until now, only the arrival of King Felipe VI of Spain has been confirmed.
