Parliament has adopted resolutions assessing the human rights situation in Bolivia, and the COVID-19 situation in Latin America.
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating impact on the Latin American continent, MEPs say, expressing their solidarity towards all victims and their families, as well all those affected by the health, economic and social crises.
The resolution calls on European and Latin American governments, EU institutions and Latin American integration bodies to step up bi-regional cooperation and to improve preparedness, access to basic healthcare, and to manage widespread vaccination plans more efficiently.
The EU and its member states must cooperate with the authorities in Latin American countries in need and deploy the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and other solidarity funding, MEPs say. They urge the international community to increase their efforts to strengthen the capacity of the COVAX initiative to distribute vaccines, while recognising the EU’s leading role in efforts to secure fair and equitable access to safe and effective vaccines in low- and middle-income countries.
Parliament condemns the arbitrary and illegal detention of former Bolivian interim President Jeanine Áñez, two of her ministers, and other political prisoners in the country.
The text states that, on 13 March, Ms Áñez, two of her ministers and other individuals who made up the interim government from 2019 to 2020 “were detained on charges of ‘terrorism, sedition and conspiracy, and are accused by prosecutors of taking part in a coup in 2019.”
A former Second Vice-President of the Bolivian Senate, Ms Áñez assumed the interim presidency of Bolivia after her predecessor Evo Morales stepped down in 2019 following accusations of a fraudulent re-election, political unrest and violent protests.
The resolution underlines that former President Áñez fully complied with her duties under the Bolivian constitution when taking up the post of interim president. MEPs demand that she and the other political prisoners in Bolivia be immediately released and provided with all the medical assistance they need to ensure their well-being.
