MEXICO CITY, Dec 28 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — Mexico stands firm in its position under international law to grant asylum to the nine Bolivian refugees at its diplomatic headquarters in La Paz, despite the police siege.
On his Twitter account, Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard ratified the government’s stance in the face of excessive surveillance and intimidation of the country’s diplomatic staff in Bolivia.
‘The Mexican position is and will continue to be that diplomatic immunity and the integrity of embassies and facilities representing our country in Bolivia must be respected,’ the foreign minister wrote on his Twitter account.
In another statement, the Mexican Embassy in Bolivia reported that in addition to ‘excessive surveillance’ around the diplomatic headquarters and the official residence, drones have also been identified flying over the premises. They are recording images and sound, which would be an undue interference in Mexico’s internal affairs, the statement added.
Mexico again ratified its stance to the de facto Bolivian Foreign Ministry, thus following up on the statement presented on Dec 23 regarding this excessive surveillance, in which Mexican authorities denounce that that same day military personnel attempted to search the official vehicle in which the Mexican ambassador was traveling.
‘The Mexican State considers that the actions taken by the Bolivian authorities, as well as their omissions, could constitute violations of the international obligations assumed by the Plurinational State of Bolivia,’ the Foreign Secretariat reiterated.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the Mexican Senate and Chamber of Deputies expressed their solidarity with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, following the dispute with the de facto government of Bolivia.
Senate President Monica Fernandez called on Bolivian authorities to comply rigorously with international treaties, agreements and conventions on the inviolability of diplomatic missions and the right to asylum, particularly the Vienna Convention and the Pact of Bogota.
The Senate noted in a communiqué that exercising its constitutional powers, it expresses its deepest concern about the siege of the Mexican Embassy in Bolivia over the past few days.
It noted that Mexico has the right to resort to international instances such as the International Court of Justice if it considers that those principles are violated.
‘The Senate calls for good judgement from all parties and to reflect on the fact that any circumstantial dispute should not prevent, in the long term, the good development of the historic relations between the peoples of Mexico and Bolivia.’
For his part, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Femat Bañuelos, expressed his strong support for Lopez Obrador and Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard in their demand that the Bolivian authorities ‘respect international law’.
He particularly demanded that the Bolivian coup leaders respect the Vienna Convention, due to the illegal siege of the Mexican Embassy in that South American country. — NNN-PRENSA LATINA
