Above photo: The Minister of the Presidency, María Nela Prada, together with the Vice Chancellor, Freddy Mamani, announce the severing of diplomatic ties with Israel.
Bolivia becomes first Latin American country to cut ties with Israel since October 7.
On October 31, Bolivia became the first Latin American country since October 7 to sever ties with Israel, citing war crimes in the Gaza Strip. In 2009, Bolivian President Evo Morales severed ties with Israel in protest of attacks against the Gaza Strip, however, Jeanine Añez’s right-wing coup government restored ties in 2019.
Bolivian officials of President Luis Arce’s administration explained that this decision is taken “in repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive, which is being carried out in the Gaza Strip and the threat to international peace and security.”
Yesterday, Arce called on the UN Security Council to “prevent the genocide of the Palestinian people and pave a definitive solution for Palestine to exercise its right to self-determination, to have its own territory without illegal occupations and fully enjoy the attributes of a free, sovereign and independent state.”
On October 31, Israel dropped six tons of US-made bombs on the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza, killing and wounding 400 Palestinians. Over the course of Israel’s genocidal rampage against Gaza, it has bombed numerous hospitals, massacred journalists and their families, and killed over 8,000 Palestinians.