Bolivia and the United States The two countries have normalized diplomatic relations and plan to exchange ambassadors soon.Bolivia’s new President Rodrigo Paz and US Undersecretary of State Christopher Landau made the announcement on Saturday. The U.S. representative in Bolivia was ousted in 2008 by then Bolivian President Evo Morales.
Paz and Landau met after Paz’s inauguration ceremony in Bolivia. It announced the beginning of a new era in diplomatic relations between La Paz and Washington. Leftist President Morales expelled the US ambassador on suspicion of domestic espionage, and subsequently expelled the drug enforcement agency DEA and the development agency USAID.
“We are going to rebuild the relationship at the ambassador level.”it is unusual to not have an ambassador. “This is an important step and we hope to announce an ambassador soon,” said Landau, who is the highest-ranking US diplomat to visit the country in recent years.
Mr. Landau, who was the ambassador to Mexico, also made the following announcement. Washington is ready to cooperate with Bolivia’s new government in several areas. “President Paz has expressed an interest in maintaining good relations with the United States. We mutually desire good relations and I am confident that we will do so,” the diplomat said.
Paz hinted at the possibility of the DEA returning. “It will be, and we will be working with, not only the United States, but all agencies in border countries that want to work with Bolivia to make it safer from illegal activity,” he said at a joint press conference.
Mr. Pass traveled to the United States last week before taking office, meeting with international financial institutions and negotiating support to pull the country out of its worst economic crisis in 40 years.
During the Morales administration (2006-2019) and the Luis Arce administration (2020-2025), Bolivia separated from the United States. Along with Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, the United States joined the Bolivarian Alliance for the People (ALBA), but suspended the Andean country as a member after peace talks with Washington.
Bolivia is the second largest producer of coca and cocaine after Colombia and Peru, and has recently seen a dangerous increase in violence related to drug trafficking, especially in areas bordering Brazil, a major destination for cocaine. According to police reports, a mafia associated with the Brazilian cartel PCC and the Red Army Command is active on Bolivian territory.
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