At a press conference, Bolivia's deputy foreign minister, Freddy Mamani, stated, "Bolivia decided to break diplomatic relations with the state of israel in repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive taking place in the Gaza Strip."
Israel is charged by minister of the Presidency María Nela Prada of "committing crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip against the Palestinian people." Prada is now serving as acting Foreign Minister.
"Cease attacks in the Gaza Strip that have already resulted in thousands of civilian casualties and the forced displacement of Palestinians," she said, urging israel to do so.
Additionally, Prada stated that bolivia "rejects the Israeli hostile treatment of international actors providing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip" and that her country will send aid there, but she did not specify what exactly that would involve.
Keeping along with the Bolivian government's history of not denouncing the Oct. 7 attack that resulted in the deaths of over 1,400 Israeli citizens, Prada and Mamani made no mention of the Hamas attack on Israel.
Bolivia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on october 7th expressing their "deep concern over the violent events that occurred between israel and palestine in the Gaza Strip." The Foreign Ministry expressed "our solidarity and unwavering support for the Palestinian people" and denounced Israeli assaults on october 18.
Over 8,500 Palestinians have lost their lives in the conflict, according to the Gaza health Ministry.
This 12 million-person Andean nation's government, which is currently led by socialist President Luis Arce, has a history of criticizing Israel. In 2009, the government even broke off diplomatic ties with israel over the conflict in Gaza. In 2020, diplomatic ties were restored.
After meeting with Mahmoud Elalwani, the Palestinian ambassador to bolivia on Monday, Arce declared his support for the Palestinian people.
"We cannot stay silent and let the suffering of the Palestinian people—children in particular, who deserve to live in peace—continue. We denounce the war crimes occurring in Gaza," Arce said on social media after the conference.
The powerful former president of bolivia, Evo Morales, who had sided with Arce before turning against him, applauded the government's move to sever ties, but claimed it did not go far enough.
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