“It’s not just the institution you consulted (the DEA), it’s any organization—including Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, and Chile, which are border countries—that wants to work with our institutions to make Bolivia a safer country and support security and the fight against illicit activities. We will be part of it,” he stated.

This viewpoint was expressed by the president at a joint press conference with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who attended his inauguration.

Since the expulsion of the DEA in 2008, accused of conspiring against the constitutional government of former president Evo Morales, the Andean-Amazonian country and Washington have not had ambassadors, as on September 12 of that year the authorities in La Paz declared Philip Goldberg persona non grata for interference in internal affairs.

Goldberg held meetings with opposition politicians amidst protests by civic activists and governors from Santa Cruz, Pando, Beni, and Tarija—territories that at the time referred to themselves as the “Half Moon.”

Following a bilateral impasse and with the aim of building mutual trust, both governments promoted a framework agreement for bilateral relations, signed in 2011 in Washington. However, to date, ambassadors have not been reinstated, and diplomatic ties have remained at the level of charges d’affaires.

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