Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-09-Speech-4-163"
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"en.20050609.28.4-163"2
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".
Mr President, the European Commission is extremely concerned about the critical political situation in Bolivia. We are following the situation very closely.
Many countries in the Andean region have faced serious political and institutional crises in recent years, but events in Bolivia have shown it to be a particularly fragile and vulnerable state, not least because it is one of the poorest, least-developed and most unequal South American countries. The current increasingly anarchic climate, which culminated in Monday evening’s resignation of President Carlos Mesa, is deeply worrying.
At this delicate moment the Commission urges all Bolivian citizens, rich and poor, of all ethnic origins and from all regions of the country, to pursue their respective demands and aspirations peacefully, by means of dialogue, within the framework of democracy and the rule of law and in accordance with the constitution.
Whilst we are relieved to note that up to now, as far as we are informed, there have been few injuries during the recent unrest, it is now absolutely vital that Bolivia’s political leaders and civil society work together to extricate their country from its current difficulties in a spirit of peace, dialogue, tolerance and national reconciliation.
The histories of both Europe and Latin America show that violence or non-democratic solutions do nothing to bring lasting peace or prosperity to their citizens. Their heartfelt but often conflicting demands and aspirations can only be tackled successfully by working together to generate consensus and unity. In that regard, the Commission hopes that the efforts of the Catholic church to organise a national dialogue and ensure a smooth constitutional succession will continue and will be successful.
The Commission has been making a real and practical contribution to supporting dialogue in Bolivia by using our rapid reaction mechanism to provide up to EUR 185 000 to the Club of Madrid to implement a six-month programme of high-level consultancy and support for consensus building and strengthening of leadership skills, which started in mid-April and will continue in the run-up to the long-awaited constituent assembly.
The Commission and the Council have also worked in close collaboration to prepare an EU action plan for Bolivia, which was adopted in mid-May. It provides a framework for coherent and structured common action by EU institutions and by the Member States jointly and individually. The action includes engaging in constructive political dialogue, providing support for the constituent assembly, respect for the rights of indigenous peoples, exchanges of experience with different models of regional autonomy and providing constructive input and the benefit of EU experience in securing the benefits of foreign investment for all Bolivians.
Bolivia has also been included in the list of eligible countries for the European initiative on democracy and human rights for 2005-2006. In the Bolivian context, projects related to training, monitoring and consciousness-raising in the fields of democracy and human rights, projects that promote the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples and projects that support the role of civil society in conflict prevention are all eligible for support. There is, unfortunately, only limited scope for such support to be implemented while Bolivia is gripped by its present crisis.
The Commission welcomes the motion for a resolution by the European Parliament, which would underline the need for full respect for democracy and the rule of law and would add a further very important EU voice to the calls for dialogue."@en1
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