1. Relation Between Bolivia, Palestine and Israel in Recent Years

 Author: Alvaro Montenegro P.

The turning point in the bilateral relations between Bolivia and Israel occurred in 2009. At that time, President Evo Morales not only condemned the Israeli operation "Cast Lead" in Gaza but he also broke diplomatic relations with Israel.

In the 2009 beginning of the year Presidential Speech , Evo Morales, after describing the repression as: «crimes against humanity and war, genocide and extermination», expressed the intention of Bolivia to «denounce the Prime Minister of Israel and his entire cabinet» to the International Criminal Justice.

A year later, in 2010, Bolivia recognized Palestine as an independent state within its full, pre-1967 borders.

Bolivan President Evo Morales

Since then, Bolivian relations with Israel continued to deteriorate. At the "Third Summit of South America-Arab Countries" of 2012 in Lima, Morales, after expressing his appreciation to Palestine, declared: «We would not want in Latin America, in South America, in any continent, to have an expansionist and interventionist Israel, which is doing a lot of damage to the Palestinian people”[1].

Two years later, in 2014, in response to the Israeli operation "Protective Edge" Morales declared that Israel was a "terrorist state"[2] and ended the free visa policy for nationals of that country who had been in force since 1972.

In 2019, during the Ministerial Meeting of the "Movement of Non-Aligned Countries" in Caracas, Palestinian Foreign Minister Ryad al-Maliki signed, with his Bolivian counterpart Diego Pari, cooperation agreements in various fields such as agriculture, health, energy.

Ryand Al-Maliki and Diego Pari

The same year, in September, Palestine officially inaugurated its embassy in La Paz. According to the Palestinian Ambassador  Mahmoud Elalwani: "Bolivia is key to Palestinian relations with Latin America"[3].

Following the resignation of President Morales in 2019, "welcomed news in Tel Aviv"[3], the government of President Janine Añez restored relations with Israel and resumed the policy of free visas.

"The current government is very pro-Israeli, there are evangelical Christians involved who express a lot of love for Israel" declared in a 2019 interview Francisco Hubsch, who served for 26 years as Honorary Consul of Israel in Bolivia, said in 2019[5].

Francisco Hubsh Israel Honorary Consul in Bolivia

The  triumph of Luis Arce -Evo Morales' Minister of Economy- in the 2020 presidential elections meant renewed support for Palestine.

In December 2021, Bolivian Foreign Ministry Rogelio Mayta organized an event on the occasion of the “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People”. Mayta highlighted the common past of colonialism of both countries and the Ambassador of Palestine who was also invited to the event, recalled the numerous abuses of the Israeli army against his people.

As Kevin Funk pointed out in his article "How Latin America met the Arab World" (2016: 21), our continent has always been a "diplomatic battlefield for Israeli and Palestinian influence."

REFERENCES

[1] Ministerio de Comunicación, “Morales: ´Sudamerica, Latinomaerica y ningún contienente quiere otro Israel expansionista”, 2.10.211, https://comunicacion.gob.bo/?q=20121002/morales-sudam%C3%A9rica-latinoam%C3%A9rica-y-ning%C3%BAn-continente-quiere-otro-israel-expansionista-e

[2] Middle East Monitor,  “Bolivia declares Israel a terrorist state”, 12.02.2014, https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/news/bolivia-declares-israel-terrorist-state-299682688

[3] El Deber, “Mahdmoud Alawani: Bolivia es Clave para las Relaciones de Bolivia con Latin America”, 27.09.2019,  https://eldeber.com.bo/mundo/mahmoud-alwani-bolivia-es-clave-para-las-relaciones-de-palestina-con-america-latina_66904

[4] The Palestine Chronicle, “Israel is a ‘Terrorist State’: Seven Times Bolivia and Morales Took a Stance for Palestine”, 14.09.2019, https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israel-is-a-terrorist-state-seven-times-bolivia-and-morales-took-a-stance-for-palestine/

[5] Consulado General de Israel Guayaquil Ecuador, “La Renovada Amistad Entre Israel y Bolivia”, 23.11.2019.