Durbin, Bipartisan Colleagues Joint Statement on Further Democratic Backsliding in Bolivia
Senators also raise Bolivia’s continued support for Russia at the UN
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Jim Risch (R-ID) released the following joint statement on continued democratic backsliding in Bolivia, including the continued jailing of interim president Jeanine Áñez and recent arrest of local governor and opposition leader Luis Fernando Camacho:
“Bolivian President Luis Arce is facing a critical test of democratic leadership – whether to settle petty political vendettas on behalf of his predecessor or move his nation forward into the community of Latin American democracies. Absurdly locking up political opponents represents a dangerous display of authoritarianism and further erodes the already low confidence many Bolivians and the international community have in the country’s justice system. Bolivia cannot be a democracy if its opposition leaders compete in elections from behind bars. And regularly siding with Russian military aggression in votes at the United Nations only further tarnishes Bolivia’s democratic credibility.”
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