Bolivia asks the ICJ to recognize its sovereignty over Silala waters

  Bolivia asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday to declare the sovereign right of that country over the waters of the Silala River, in its counterclaim as part of the dispute it maintains with Chile before that court.

In the penultimate day of oral arguments before the ICJ in The Hague, the agent (main representative) of the Bolivian side, the diplomat Roberto Calzadilla, asked the court to declare the Bolivian right to the channels on the Silala that are in its territory.

Regarding these artificial canals, Calzadilla asked for the recognition of the Bolivian right to decide in a sovereign way when and how to carry out maintenance tasks.

Calzadilla also asked the ICJ to declare Bolivia's sovereignty over the "artificial flow" of the Silala waters in its territory, and that "Chile has no acquired rights" over this water flow.

Furthermore, the Bolivian diplomat argued, any claim by Chile over access to the waters of the Silala River, as well as conditions and compensation, "are subject to the conclusion of an agreement with Bolivia".

ICJ judges will hear Chile's reply to the dispute on Thursday, at the close of the cycle of oral arguments.

The court's final decision may still take months or even years, but it is binding and cannot be appealed.

The day before, the agent of the Chilean delegation, Ximena Fuentes, had asked the ICJ to declare the fluvial system of the Silala River as an "international watercourse".

She also asked the ICJ to rule on Chile's right to the use of "the waters of the Silala river system, in accordance with customary international law".

This case dates back to 2016, when Chile filed a claim in the midst of another dispute between the two countries before the same ICJ, in which the Bolivian side asked to force the Chilean authorities to negotiate a sovereign outlet to the sea.

In 2018, this same court argued that Chile was not "legally obliged to negotiate" an exit to the sea with Bolivia.

In that context, Bolivia's then president, Evo Morales, threatened to reduce the flow of water from the Silala to Chile's Atacama Desert and to impose tariffs for its use.

Chile and Bolivia have been at loggerheads for decades over the status of river and maritime waters.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries have been broken since 1978, when the last attempt to negotiate Bolivia's access to the Pacific Ocean failed.

Torrential rain floods neighborhoods and streets of Santa Cruz and leaves serious damage

Images of the storm have gone viral on social networks. The Santa Cruz Mayor's Office set up a hotline 800 12 5050 to report emergencies. 

After two hours of torrential rain, the streets and avenues of the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra turned into rivers. The intense rainfall collapsed the drainage channels causing risky situations for pedestrians, but also for vehicles, which were swept away and flooded.

The storm has left serious damage to public infrastructure and property in the city. The damage count has begun.  

An image of a person being swept away by the water current was disseminated in social networks, however no further information is known.

The Municipal Secretariat of Citizen Security and Supply of the Santa Cruz Mayor's Office set up a hotline 800 12 5050 to report emergencies.

Neighbors used social networks to report the damages in several neighborhoods of the capital city of Santa Cruz.

"It is dangerous to cross the bridge", said a pedestrian, who was walking in the middle of the flooded streets. It is known that public transportation stopped operating due to the risk posed by the force of the water.

In some images it was observed how some vehicles were swept away by the intense flow that formed in the avenues. Some vehicles fell into the canals. 

One of the images that has gone viral at this time is that of a driver who had to climb onto the roof of his car, which was almost submerged in water, in the vicinity of the Eagles School.

Meanwhile, in the northern area of the city, a crane ended up stuck in a drainage channel while trying to help different vehicles dragged by the water.

Police officers also reported that two puppies were rescued after they fell into the drainage channel and were swept away by the waters in the seventh ring.

"Due to the rains, 2 furry dogs fell into the drainage channel and were being swept away by the current. Upon noticing the fact, our police officers from the Integral Police Station No. 9 entered the channel and managed to rescue the 2 furry ones," read a publication of the law enforcement agency. 

Minister Del Castillo denies coordination with DEA and rules out arrest warrants for Valle Sacta case

 Evo denounced that the U.S. agency operates from some ministries. The head of government maintains that all institutions work within the framework of sovereignty. 

The Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, ruled out on Monday that there is coordination with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the United States (US), as denounced on Sunday by former President Evo Morales.

The authority emphasized that all state institutions work within the framework of sovereignty and in compliance with current regulations. "I have no knowledge whatsoever", he indicated with respect to the affirmations of the coca growers' leader.

"This is completely false, there is no type of coordination by the Ministry of Government with the DEA, the work of the Bolivian Police and all its divisions and directions, is a work framed within the sovereignty and the legal regulations in force, there is no type of coordination with the DEA", he stressed.


Morales denounced on Sunday that there is a national and international campaign to discredit the Cochabamba tropic zone and, especially, its leaders, its leaders such as Andrónico Rodríguez, Leonardo Loza and himself. "I don't know if that, the DEA (is) within some ministry or some ministries trying to implicate and demonize the peasant movement of the Cochabamba tropics," he accused.

Regarding the investigation on the "frustrated" operation in Valle Sacta (Entre Ríos), the minister denied that there are arrest warrants against former anti-narcotics chiefs and said that the investigation will determine responsibilities on the facts.

"The Police does not issue arrest warrants, there is no arrest warrant for this case and these investigations will continue, we have already presented the criminal complaint and the administrative complaints, and it will be the investigation that will determine the guilt or the veracity of these audios", he said.

Young militants intercept Evo and ask him for a congress

 Former president Evo Morales was intercepted by a group of young militants in Sacaba, Cochabamba, who asked him to call a congress of the youth of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS).

"Brother Evo the youth is with you. Brother Evo, congress, nothing more we ask, congress", said a young woman to the former president and president of MAS, according to a video broadcast by journalist Horacio Martinez, in social networks.

The former president was talking with a group of people, when the young people appeared to make this request, while Morales with some gestures asked for calm.

The youths made a protest on the premises where the MAS youths' meeting was going to take place in Cochabamba.

"What do we want comrades? Congress, when? Now (...) Youth, youth", chanted the young MAS militants.

Preliminarily, it is known that this event occurred in the National Enlarged of the MAS Youth, which began on Saturday in the municipality of Sacaba.

Yesterday, MAS Vice President, Gerardo García, informed that different delegations of the country, made up of young people between 16 and 28 years of age, were going to participate in this event.

"They are beginning to enter the delegations to this expanded to be able to discuss, debate, analyze what we are going to do in time to a call for a national youth congress, that is the underlying theme," Garcia said yesterday to radio Kawsachun coca.

Evo and Russia: "They want to force Bolivia to support the US and NATO".

  After political leaders in opposition to MAS criticized Bolivia's pro-Russian stance in aligning with the US, former president Evo Morales responded via Twitter that they are trying to force Bolivia to support NATO and its allies.

Morales posted on his twitter account on Saturday: "Right-wing politicians, operators and coup plotters are trying with a campaign of lies to force Bolivia to align itself and submit to the US. They are aggressive with the people, but submissive to the culture of death, invasion and interventionism and armament of the US and NATO".

The UN General Assembly decided on Thursday to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council by a vote of 93 countries in favor and 24 against, including Bolivia; 58 other nations abstained.

"Bolivia did not even abstain, but directly voted against suspending Russia from the UN HR Council. This pro-Russian radicalization is due to pressure from Evo. His anti-US sentiment has already caused several failures for the country and even for MAS", assured Samuel Dora Medina in his Twitter account.

In another tweet, Tuto Quiroga disqualified the defense of the crimes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is carrying out on Ukrainian soil with the invasion of his army.

"They were defeated, but this ignominious vote does enormous damage to GOB-#Bolivia, which went from "passive abstention" to frontal support for #Putin's crimes," reads Quiroga's tweet.

Jeanine Añez: I did not lift a finger to be president and I worked with the Assembly.

In the oral trial against him for an alleged coup d'état, Añez told the judges how he became President. He said that he came to office by constitutional succession and did not coordinate with the military or the police.

Jeanine Añez took the floor in the oral trial for the "Coup d'Etat II" case, said that she "did not move a finger" to become President and blamed Evo Morales for the violent events of 2019, considering that if he had complied with the Constitution regarding the limit of repostulations, the confrontations would have been avoided.

Añez indicated that he took office by constitutional succession and that up to that moment he did not know any of the high military or police commanders. He called the former presidents of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies "cowards" for not assuming this responsibility. She indicated that when she assumed the leadership of the State, she worked with the Legislative Assembly.

"It was not Añez (referring to herself) who gave instructions, orders. I did not move a finger to reach the Presidency. My name began to appear in the media by constitutional succession. I could have said no because at that time the president (Evo Morales), the vice president (Álvaro García Linera), the president of the Chamber of Senators, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, the vice president of the Chamber of Senators had resigned. That is why (the responsibility) fell on Jeanine Añez", said yesterday the former president in the oral trial.

Yesterday's hearing was held in person at the Miraflores prison, where the former president has been held since March of last year. It was the first time she appeared before a court in person. The police deployed an operation to prevent MAS supporters from protesting at the prison gates, as it happened in past hearings, which once affected the health of the accused.

In her statement, Añez recounted the events that led her to lead Bolivia since November 2019 for almost a year. "We all know the convulsion that the country was going through, we were all witnesses. It has its origin. None of this would have happened if Evo Morales had respected the Constitution which is clear: The president and vice president have the right to be reelected only once," she said.

The former president said that Morales was seeking a "fourth reelection", "he wanted to elect himself eternally". That "arbitrary" decision had a response from the people that grew with the denunciations of electoral fraud.

"At that time I was an elected senator and I was in my apartment doing a peaceful demonstration like any other citizen," she said. Añez mentioned that she had "parliamentary privilege" and assured that for that reason she could not be accused in an ordinary trial. "I do not recognize this court or the accusation". She indicated that she should be subjected to a trial of responsibilities.

She considered that if she had committed "some transgression" as senator, it was up to the Assembly to send the case to an ethics commission, but they did not do so at the time. "On the contrary, (the Legislative) endorsed the constitutional succession, we worked in a coordinated manner. I did not know that a 'de facto government' had an assembly," he said.

She recalled that before assuming the Presidency there were already deaths in the streets.  She said that they accuse her of having "contacts" with military and police, but she was in Trinidad. "How is it possible that she is a super senator who was manipulating everything to take power. Nothing could be more false. She had no voice or vote for anything, she was in the street as a citizen."

Añez questioned Adriana Salvatierra, former president of the Senate, and Víctor Borda, former president of Deputies, for not accepting the leadership of the country. "They did not have the courage to assume the Presidency because they were cowards, because they knew they had a country in flames due to the upheaval".  

She denied that she had made "arrangements" with the military so that they would wait for her in La Paz. "I want to tell you that I do not know the gentlemen who are now accused (...) the military or police. I was not in a position to instruct, nor give orders to anyone, nor in my party," she said. 

Añez said that she arrived in the city of El Alto in a commercial plane and a military helicopter was waiting for her. She was in the company of the now former senator Óscar Ortiz. Both were afraid of being kidnapped because "the military was working with Morales", but they did it because there were no conditions to go down to La Paz by car.

That night they arrived at the Military College. The next day they tried to install the Assembly and "everyone" assumed that she would be the successor after the series of resignations. She said that at that time the violence was almost unstoppable, the houses of Casimira Lema, Waldo Albarracin, six police modules and the PumaKatari in La Paz were burned.

"We met with the parliamentarians and we had the obligation to find a solution because the cowards fled. By that time, Morales and (García) Linera left for Mexico, did I provoke that?" he asked. "Therefore, they cannot say it was orchestrated. I was a product or consequence of this situation. That was my crime, to pacify the country, to assume power by constitutional succession", he said.

At that time there were already institutions that sought to pacify the country and meetings were held, such as the one at the Catholic University. "At that moment my name did not come up, but that of the second vice-presidency. They asked me -respecting the constitutional succession- if I would assume power. I answered that if I have the support, why I am not going to impose myself and I assumed it as such", he said.

After his statement, Añez invoked his right to silence and avoided answering questions from the Prosecutor's Office. In the afternoon, the two ex-chiefs of the Military High Command, Jorge Pastor Mendieta Ferrufino and Flavio Gustavo Arce San Martín, testified from the San Pedro prison. The hearing went into a new recess until Tuesday, April 12, at 10:00. 

Former military chiefs reject accusations and reveal data

In the oral trial for the "Coup d'Etat II" case, the former chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Flavio Gustavo Arce San Martin said yesterday that he "does not understand exactly why he was accused". "I have not participated directly in any of those facts."

"My function I exercised as of December 24, 2018. I was the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (FFAA). I culminated on November 12, 2019," he indicated. "My person did not fulfill the position of commander in chief of the FFAA and my functions were strictly of direction, planning and supervision of the work developed by the General Staff, the collegiate body that contributes to the commander's tasks," he said.

He continued: "I issued orders and instructions to carry out the decisions adopted by the commander in chief. The one who makes decisions in the Armed Forces is the commander-in-chief.

Regarding the accusations against him, Arce said that the use of helicopters is in charge of the Air Force and that the landing at the Military College depends on the authorization of a force other than his own. He emphasized that no member of the Air Force or the Military College mentioned him in his statements.

New revelations

In the oral trial, former Army Commander Jorge Pastor Mendieta testified yesterday that former Armed Forces Commander Williams Kaliman maintained permanent contact with former President Evo Morales until the moment when the plane that took him out of the country took off from Chimoré.

He also said that when the aircraft was about to take off, Kaliman asked Morales why he was leaving the country. According to the military officer, the former president responded that the military "studied for that", that they were experts in "negotiating" and that the bases had surpassed him. He also stated that the former president suggested Kaliman to negotiate with the former Minister of Rural Development, César Cocarico. 

Argentine journalist calls Bolivian vice-consul a "delinquent" and embassy announces actions

In one of her programs, journalist Viviana Canosa accused the diplomat of appropriating land in the municipality of La Matanza.

 

The Argentine journalist Viviana Canosa, host of the program "Viviana con vos", of the A24 channel, called the Bolivian Vice Consul in Buenos Aires Mauricio Pinaya a "delinquent", whom she blamed for the blockade on the Riccheri highway. In response, the Embassy of the Plurinational State of Bolivia in Argentina announced that it will file a complaint for defamation.

Background information shows that on April 1, journalist Canosa referred to the blockade suffered by those living near the Riccheri highway -which connects to the municipality of La Matanza- and accused the Bolivian vice-consul of having "usurped" the land.

"The Bolivian vice-consul usurped land and apart from that he wants them to pay for the services, to connect the electricity, it's a joke. Go back to Bolivia, vice-consul, and stop breaking your balls," said Canosa.

"Bring him to me and I will teach him how to pay taxes, go back to Bolivia, don't be a delinquent, you are squandering land that is not yours and on top of that you are cutting the highway", he continued.

In a statement, the Embassy of Bolivia in Argentina expressed its concern and pointed out that these are xenophobic and discriminatory expressions.

"The Embassy of Bolivia in Argentina, through the corresponding channels, will present before the respective instances the formal complaints for defamations to the Bolivian personnel accredited in this country," said a statement issued on Monday.

It added that the complaint will also be filed against lawyer Florencia Arietto, who last March 31, through her Twitter account, accused the Bolivian consular authority of the blockade on the Riccheri highway, "lacking the truth and denting the dignity of a representative of Bolivia in Argentina." 

The Bolivian journalist in Buenos Aires Marcelo Orellana reported this Tuesday to Página Siete Digital that the neighbors who live in the area Barrio Puente 13, with a majority presence of Bolivian residents, installed last Wednesday blocking points on the Riccheri highway in protest for the cutting of electric power and removal of wiring.

"The municipality came and cut our cable. We are suffering an outrage from the municipality, we are 720 families who live here and we are not going to move, we demand that they put the light back on," said a Bolivian resident.

"We are Bolivians, but our children are Argentines, we have no electricity or water, we have access to water from pumps", said another Bolivian woman to TV Radio La Nueva.

Vice Consul Pinaya went to the place, talked for a few minutes with the Bolivian residents and left the place, local media reported. The blockade was lifted on Thursday last week.