LatinNews Daily - 23 December 2019

Bolivia: On 16 December, Bolivia’s interior minister, Arturo Murillo, announced that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) had expressed its desire to resume aid to Bolivia following its expulsion from the country in May 2013 under the previous administration led by Evo Morales (2006-2019). The news came via Murillo’s Twitter account and was accompanied by a photo showing him shaking hands with the assistant administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, John Barsa. Murillo expressed his appreciation for the meeting and said that they broached various potential bilateral projects. The meeting follows acting foreign minister Karen Longaric’s 14 December comments to the press, expressing the interim government’s hopes of pursuing a “de-ideologised” foreign policy. Longaric criticised the previous administration for taking “extreme measures” in its foreign policy, citing the expulsion of USAID as an example, which only succeeded in “damaging the interests of...small and medium-sized businesses”. The move is the latest in a series of significant shifts in Bolivia’s foreign policy under the interim government led by President Jeanine Áñez, which include re-establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, naming an ambassador to the US, and suspending, on 11 December, the requirement for US and Israeli citizens to obtain entry visas to visit the country.

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