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Bolivia unrest not Moscow’s fault? Lavrov wonders where all ‘Russia’ accusations have gone

According to the top diplomat, Russia is used to rumors about its 'involvement' in everything going on in the world, from the Salisbury poisoning and Brexit to the Catalonia crisis

PARIS, November 12. /TASS/. It is strange that Moscow hasn’t been accused of being behind the developments in Bolivia yet, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the Russian session of the Paris Peace Forum on Tuesday.

According to him, Russia is used to rumors about its 'involvement' in everything going on in the world, from the Salisbury poisoning and Brexit to the Catalonia crisis.

"Recently, we were mentioned as the ones who meddled with the situation in Chile — that’s why the APEC summit was cancelled — and I was wondering why we are not mentioned in relation to the developments in Iraq, Lebanon, and now in Bolivia. Somehow we haven’t been accused of the coup in Bolivia, and this is strange. So something is happening in the minds of those who normally create the geopolitical agenda," the Russian top diplomat pointed out.

Political turbulence in Bolivia

A presidential election was held in Bolivia on October 20. The country's Supreme Electoral Court declared that incumbent President Evo Morales had won the vote. His main rival, former President Carlos Mesa, refused to recognize Morales' victory. After the results of the election had been announced, protests and strikes erupted across the South American country. Morales declared a state of emergency and accused the opposition of attempting to stage a coup.

On November 10, Morales announced his resignation, branding the recent developments as a coup d’etat. He stepped down following the demands of the country’s armed forces, opposition and trade unions.

On Monday night, Morales left for Mexico, accepting an offer of political asylum.