On the 4th of the current month, Arce promulgated Law 1567 that ratifies the Protocol of Accession of the Plurinational State to the integrationist bloc, signed on July 17, 2015, and today completed the step of placing it in the depositary country.
Previously, the Bolivian dignitary gave a speech to the participants in the 64th Mercosur Summit, in which he thanked this Monday for the solidarity shown by most member countries in the face of the failed coup d’état of last June 26.
“I cannot close this intervention without thanking most of the countries in the region for their solidarity with the Bolivian people and my Government, in the face of the attempted military coup d’état on June 26,” said the president.
Arce warned his peers that the danger of shortening his constitutional mandate “by whatever means, has not disappeared, nor has the firmness of our people and their government to defend democracy and the Cultural Democratic Revolution has not regressed one millimeter.”
“I want to express my deepest special gratitude to the Mercosur countries that demonstrated against the coup d’état and to the International Community for its unwavering support in these difficult times,” the dignitary reiterated.
He considered this solidarity was fundamental to maintain and avoid the breakdown of the constitutional order in Bolivia.
He also regretted the statements that he described as unfounded and unserious about an alleged self-coup, when it was an attempted coup d’état that not only had the participation of active military personnel.
He specified that former passive service officers implicated in the breakdown of the constitutional order in November 2019 and civilians, who are being investigated on the basis of due process by the Bolivian justice system, were also involved.
On June 26, a military faction led by former Army chief Juan José Zúñiga took Murillo Square and a tank forcibly broke the main door of the old Government Palace, annex to the Casa Grande del Pueblo, seat of the Executive Branch.
The objective was to take power “manu militari”, but the reaction of President Arce, the citizen mobilization and international support stopped this attack, in which the involvement of more than 70 people was already proven, including 24 arrested and investigated.
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