UNITED NATIONS, Nov 15 (NNN-Xinhua) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent a personal envoy to Bolivia to offer UN support following the resignation of Evo Morales as Bolivian president.
“The secretary-general has asked Mr. Jean Arnault to engage, as his personal envoy, with all Bolivian actors and offer United Nations support in efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis, including through transparent, inclusive and credible elections,” said Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
He said the UN chief remains deeply concerned about the developments in Bolivia and reiterates his appeal to all Bolivians to refrain from violence and exercise utmost restraint.
Arnault is the former special representative of the secretary-general for Colombia. He has also served as special representative of the secretary-general for Georgia, Afghanistan, Burundi and Guatemala.
Bolivia has been plagued by anti-government protests since Evo Morales won a fourth presidential term in the Oct. 20 elections. The opposition refused to recognize his victory, claiming fraud.
Morales announced his resignation on Sunday after the military demanded his departure. He arrived Tuesday in Mexico, which offered him political asylum.
At a special session of the Senate Tuesday, which did not include members of the ruling party Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), opposition senator Jeanine Anez assumed the presidency of the Bolivian Senate, which allowed her to also proclaim herself interim president of the country.
Anez moved to take temporary control of the Senate even though she lacked a quorum to appoint her, which she said was due to the absence of legislators from the MAS, the majority of parliament.
Betty Yaniquez, congressional leader from the MAS, denounced the self-proclamation as illegal. — NNN-XINHUA
