Argentina criticized that Bolivia was left out of the meeting.
This Friday ended the Summit for Democracy organized by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, in which a hundred countries were present virtually, with notable absences such as China and Russia. The event ended without specific agreements and with the promise of convening a new edition in 2022.
Biden called on the attendees to meet in a year, if possible in person, to review compliance with the commitments launched in these two days of speech, although there has been no specific consensus reached by the participants in the meeting, according to EFE.
This multilateral forum concluded as it began, with a speech by the host in which Biden insisted on the need to continue collaborating to strengthen democracies from threats such as disinformation, corruption or authoritarianism.
He considered that government leaders have a responsibility to strengthen democracies by promoting reforms aimed at transparency and accountability and resilience against those who bet on authoritarianism.
He also said that it is necessary to work with the private sector to combat corruption and build more egalitarian economies.
When talking about US commitments, Biden spoke not only of collaborating in the strengthening of democracies in the world, he also cited national challenges, and especially that of defending the “sacred right to vote freely”, at a time when Several Republican states have passed regulations that Democrats claim restrict this right.
Although Biden’s speech was a review of everything that was spoken at this summit, the debates on this second day were focused on the role of technology and the need for rules to regulate it to avoid attacks on democracy.
The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, defended in this sense the need to regulate the digital world so that it serves the purposes and the common good and called to combat all forms of extremism and populism to strengthen democracies.
Guterres considered that the pandemic has generated “greater contempt for democracy” and insisted on the need to condemn “all forms of populism, nativism and extremism using all the tools available in the technological revolution.”
That is why he warned that the digital world must be regulated so that it serves the common good, especially at a time like the current one in which “many times the truth is not promoted on social networks”, which causes “anxiety and despair ”In societies.
The vice president of Microsoft, Brad Smith, also spoke about disinformation, who considered a “new generation” of laws and regulations for technology necessary. Only in this way, he added, is the necessary trust of citizens maintained to protect a democracy.
Taiwan’s digital minister, Audrey Tang, intervened in a panel in which she set up the COVID-19 infection tracking system launched by her government, which respected the privacy of citizens, as an example of the necessary “trust.” between economic sectors and between citizens and their institutions to preserve democratic values.
Along these lines, Biden stressed this Friday in his speech that now it is time to put into practice the commitments expressed by each other and examine what has been done in the 2022 appointment.
Case of Bolivia presented by Argentina
Meanwhile, the president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, defended Bolivia during his brief speech at the summit, to which the Bolivian government was not invited.
Fernández also redoubled his criticism of various members of the international community, including the United States, although without naming him, for their role in the 2019 elections in Bolivia, again denouncing a “coup d’état” in the Andean nation. AFP.
“Bolivia has suffered a coup endorsed by a large part of the international community and by the Organization of American States (OAS), and was able to recover and regain democracy and today the institutionality there is fully in force,” said the Argentine president.
“I rescue that, that reality of Bolivia on this day where democracy summons us, because perhaps Bolivia today is a good example of the importance of democracy,” he added, underlining that “democracy is not imposed.”
Bolivia experienced a strong social upheaval after the October 2019 elections, in which then-President Evo Morales declared himself the winner amid accusations of fraud.
An OAS audit of the elections concluded that there was “malicious manipulation” in favor of Morales, who ended up resigning after losing the support of the armed forces and took refuge first in Mexico and then in Argentina.
Morales, who ruled Bolivia from January 2006 to November 2019, aspired to remain in power until 2025 uninterruptedly.
The government of Luis Arce, Morales’ dolphin who came to power after new elections in 2020, has denounced “interference” by the OAS, which it accuses of having overthrown Morales.
The Argentina governed by Fernández has supported that position of Bolivia, while the United States has supported the conclusions of the OAS.
Bolivia and the United States have lacked ambassadors since 2008, when Morales expelled the then head of the diplomatic office in La Paz, Philip Goldberg, accusing him of supporting the local right. Morales also later expelled the US anti-drug agency DEA and the international cooperation agency USAID.
Bolivia is one of the eight American countries not invited to the virtual summit for democracy that Biden is hosting this week, as well as Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
