Bolivia: Arce Slams OAS During Bolivian Municipal Elections

The Bolivian president justified his absence at the official opening ceremony of the subnational elections held at the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), emphasizing that neither he nor anyone from his government will participate in an activity where representatives of the OAS are present, a continental entity that is seriously criticized for having been biased with the sectors that favored the coup against Evo Morales (2006-2019).

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In the past days, the electoral body confirmed the presence of OAS delegates as observers of the elections to elect several regional authorities of the Andean country.

"As long as the OAS is present, we are not going to accept any invitation from the Electoral Body. You know the nefarious role of the OAS in the 2019 election, so there is no credibility of the OAS", the head of state criticized after casting his vote in the city of La Paz.

The Bolivian people participated on Sunday in the voting centers to elect some 5000 governors, assembly members, mayors, councilors, and other local authorities, among about 20,000 nominations registered in the TSE.

The elected authorities will be distributed to 583 departmental, 27 regional, and 4352 municipal bodies. These regional elections are held with a delay of one year due to the coup d'état of 2019 and, then, due to the coronavirus pandemic's effects.

In this sense, Arce considered that the subnational elections consolidate the recovery of democracy started after his triumph in general elections held last October 18, highlighting that "we will elect not only authorities but also the consolidation of the plurinational State."

In the framework of the observation mission for the 2019 presidential elections in Bolivia, the OAS published an ill-advised preliminary audit report. It stated that the country's former president Evo Morales had not obtained enough votes, so he engineered a fraud.