Mexico.- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) of Mexico instructed María Teresa Mercado, ambassador to Bolivia, to return to Mexican territory, after the Bolivian interim government declared her ungrateful person and gave 72 hours to leave the country.” The Government of Mexico takes note of the communication declaring itself a non-pleasant person to the ambassador,” the Chancellery said in a statement, saying that it instructed the civil servant to return to Mexico to “safeguard her safety and integrity.”
The move comes after Bolivia reported Friday that officials of the Spanish Embassy came accompanied by “hooded” to the residence of Mercado, which welcomes some former ministers from the stage of former President Evo Morales on charges such as terrorism.
Ambassador Maria Teresa Mercado. Photo: Twitter
On his official Twitter account, Mexican Chancellor Marcelo Ebrard acknowledged “Mercado’s valuable” performance in Bolivia, who assured “he has fully fulfilled Mexico and its cause for asylum and peace.” He stated that “it will always be a proud bell for his fortitude and attachment to Mexico’s best foreign policy tradition.”
I acknowledge the valuable action of Ambassador María Teresa Mercado in Bolivia, who has fully fulfilled Mexico and its cause for asylum and peace. It will always be a timbre of pride in his fortitude and attachment to the best foreign policy tradition of our country — Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard)
December 30, 2019
While the Director General of American Regional Agencies and Mechanisms of sRE, Efraín Guadarrama, expressed on the same social network the support for the Market.
When you’re uncomfortable with a government that came to power through a coup, it means you played a big role,” he said, adding, “You went down in history. Congratulations. We will receive you as you deserve.”
Dear Tere, we are very proud of you. When you’re uncomfortable with a government that came to power through a coup, it means you played a big role. You went down in history. Congratulations. We’ll welcome you as you deserve. @mtmercado2002 — Efraín Guadarrama (@efrain_gp)
December 30, 2019
Maximiliano Reyes Zúñiga, undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean of the SRE, also stated on Twitter that the ambassador is “an example of dignity, courage, patriotism and above all legality”. The SRE highlighted the performance of the Market, which “has obtained decorations from nations such as Denmark and the Netherlands”. Similarly, he noted that he “always complied with the foreign policy principles enshrined in the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and international law” and therefore considered that this decision is “political in nature”. He also clarified that the embassy would be run by Ana Luisa Vallejo, who until now served as the head of chancellery of the mission.
We will give all the support to the staff who will be at the head of our embassy in La Paz Bolivia, headed by The Councillor Ana Luisa Vallejo. — Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard)
December 30, 2019
He stressed that Mexico’s representation in Bolivia would continue to operate normally despite this situation. Jeanine Añez, interim president of Bolivia, on Monday declared non-pleasant people to Mercado and the Spanish diplomats Cristina Borreguero and Alvaro Fernández, together with a group of officials who gave 72 hours to leave the country after the incident last week.” This group of representatives of the Governments of Mexico and Spain has seriously damaged the sovereignty of the people and the constitutional government of Bolivia”, secured the interim president of Bolivia at a hearing at Palacio de Gobierno de la Paz.Mexico had already denounced the harassment of security forces at its diplomatic headquarters in the South American country, since december 23th around 90 police and army officers appeared outside the premises.On November 15 Mexico received several Asylum seekers at its embassy and at the ambassador’s residence in La Paz.La last week, the Mexican Government detailed that it would request precautionary measures from the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) to cease the siege of Mexico’s diplomatic facilities in the Bolivian capital as soon as possible.
Original source in Spanish
