LA PAZ: Bolivia and Colombia expelled each other’s ambassadors Wednesday in a spat over anti-government demonstrations choking La Paz and other cities.
Bolivia said it was expelling Colombia’s envoy over “interference” by its left-wing President Gustavo Petro, who called the rallies a “popular insurrection.”
Bolivian farmers, laborers and miners have for weeks been demonstrating over the economic policies of new center-right President Rodrigo Paz.
Later Wednesday, Colombia’s foreign ministry said Bolivia’s ambassador will depart Bogota.
“By way of reciprocity, a conclusion of functions is announced for Mr. Ariel Percy Molina Pimentel,” Bolivia’s ambassador in Colombia, according to a statement from the foreign ministry in Bogota.
Petro, known for his broadsides against right-wing governments, labelled the protests an insurrection against “geopolitical arrogance” at the weekend and offered to mediate the crisis.
Bolivia’s foreign ministry said the expulsion of ambassador Elizabeth Garcia arose from a “need to preserve the principles of sovereignty, non-interference and mutual respect between states.”
It did not say when Garcia would leave the Andean country.
Petro slammed the expulsion, saying it pointed to a “drift to extremism” in Bolivia.
Speaking to Colombia’s Caracol Radio, he charged that unless the Bolivian government engaged in “broad national dialogue” the country could face a “massacre of the population.”
Paz’s administration has accused the protesters of an attempted coup by former left-wing president Evo Morales, a fugitive from justice being sought for alleged trafficking of a minor.
Washington has expressed strong support for Paz and echoed his “coup” allegations.
Paz ended two decades of socialist rule, which began under Morales, when he was elected last year in the middle of the worst economic crisis in four decades.
He scrapped longstanding fuel subsidies in hopes of stabilizing the country’s dwindling dollar reserves but has so far failed to stabilize the economy.
On Monday, riot police in La Paz fought running battles for hours with protesters calling for Paz’s resignation.