The government of Canada has yet to recognize the new government in Bolivia after the socialist regime resigned earlier this month.
It’s been over a week since Evo Morales resigned as President of Bolivia and was replaced. However, the Canadian government has failed to follow our allies’ lead and recognize his successor.
As of last week, Global Affairs Canada tacitly said it will “support” the new government. However, unlike the United States, Brazil and Colombia, Canada will not recognize the new government as legitimate.
“Now that President Morales has resigned, Canada supports an institutional solution that will allow for a temporary caretaker administration to prepare for new elections and avoid a power vacuum,” a Global Affairs spokesman said last week.
Another Global Affairs employee told the CBC that the government will not use the word “recognize” and refuses to call the Bolivian president by the title of president.
Morales, a socialist and close ally of Cuba and Venezuela, has been accused of becoming increasingly authoritarian in recent years.
The constitution that Morales himself passed in 2009 bars him from seeking another term, and a majority of Bolivians voted against extending his rule in a 2016 referendum, but earlier this year he convinced a court to grant him the right to seek another term.
According to independent observers at the Organization of American States (OAS), the 2019 Bolivian election was found to be deeply flawed. The OAS in their final election report discovered “flawed transmission systems for both preliminary election results and the final count.”
On the sample of voting tally sheets observed by the OAS, 38.07% “were inconsistent with the number of citizens casting a vote.”
“That is to say, the tally sheets showed a higher number of votes than voters on the voter registration lists.”
Ultimately the OAS declared that it was “statistically unlikely,” Morales secured victory in the first round of voting.
Anti-Morales protests overtook the country in the wake of the October election. After the military recommended Morales resign in order to prevent further disruptions, he left for Mexico.
After Morales resigned, the vice-president and the senate leader also resigned. Opposition Senator Jeanine Anez was declared president.
Anez, in following the Bolivian constitution, has agreed to hold an election within six months, styling herself only as Interim-President.
Unlike in Venezuela, where the Canadian government recognized the opposition as the rightful rulers of Venezuela, Canada has decided to not recognize the new legal government of Bolivia.
Global Affairs has only so far stated a desire to see the new government continue to obey the constitution.
“Bolivians deserve to have their voices heard and democratic rights respected, and it is critical that free and fair elections be held as quickly as possible. Canada stands ready to support those efforts,” Global Affairs said.
The Canadian government has not commented on the situation since its initial comments on Thursday.
