The recently-inaugurated administration of Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz restored the country’s diplomatic ties with Israel, the Israeli government announced on Tuesday.
The announcement ends a two-year long diplomatic rupture unilaterally decided by the preceding, pro-Iran socialist administration of former President Luis Arce amid the initial wave of “genocide” in Gaza accusations against Israel less than a month after Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack on Israel.
Paz took office over the weekend, marking the end of the nearly two decades-long rule of the Movement Towards Socialism Party. In his inauguration speech, Paz proclaimed that “Never again an isolated Bolivia, subject to failed ideologies, much less a Bolivia with its back to the world.”
The Bolivian president vowed to “open Bolivia to the world,” ending two decades’ worth of MAS’ isolationism from the free world, which pushed the country towards the world’s most notorious anti-U.S. regimes — particularly Iran, who, under the preceding socialist administration, had virtually free reign to spread its malign influence in the country.
In the first hours of his administration, Paz met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and restored diplomatic ties with the United States after failed socialist dictator — and fugitive of the law on pedophilia allegations — Evo Morales unilaterally strained ties with America under dubious and unproven “espionage” accusations. Landau said on Monday that the United States is willing to cooperate with the new Bolivian government to dismantle Iran’s influence in the country.
The Israeli government, via its official Spanish language account on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), said that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar spoke with President Paz after the election and both officials agreed to work towards restoring diplomatic ties between the two nations.
Foreign Ministry Director General Eden Bar-Tal attended Paz’s inauguration and met with the Bolivian president over the weekend. Bar Tal said it is “an exciting new era for Bolivia, for relations between Israel and Bolivia, and for the free world.”
“Israel and Bolivia first established diplomatic relations in 1950. There have been disagreements but our friendship goes back decades,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on social media. “Tens of thousands of ‘mochileros’ (backpackers) have fond memories and look forward to visiting again.”
Bolivia first cut ties with Israel in 2009 during the rule of Evo Morales, who accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza through military operations that took place at the time. Morales’ unilateral decision brought an end to 59 years of uninterrupted friendly relations between the two countries.
Morales bypassed Bolivia’s presidential term limits through a series of loopholes and by coercing the nation’s top courts to pass legally dubious rulings, which allowed him to rule Bolivia up until 2019, when he voluntarily resigned after evidence of mass fraud was found in that year’s sham elections, leading to widespread protests.
Morales fled the country alongside his entire cabinet of ministers. As a result, Jeanine Áñez, a conservative senator who at the time served as second vice-president of the Senate, was sworn in as interim president following the presidential line of succession. Áñez restored Bolivia’s diplomatic ties with Israel before she was imprisoned under dubious “coup” accusations and sentenced to prison in a sham trial. Last week, the Bolivian top court overturned Áñez’s conviction and ordered the release of the former President after she unjustly spent four years and eight months in jail.
Bolivia maintained diplomatic relations with Israel up until early November 2023, when socialist former President Luis Arce joined other regional leftist heads of state in cutting ties with Israel, accusing the Jewish state of committing “genocide” in Gaza through its self-defense operations against Hamas in the wake of the October 7 terrorist attack. Arce’s administration did not condemn Hamas for attacking Israel, killing over 1,200 individuals, and taking hundreds of hostages.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here
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