Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-10-22-Speech-3-292"
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"en.20031022.13.3-292"2
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".
Mr President, the Commission followed very closely and with growing concern the dramatic and tragic events which shook Bolivia last week. We deplore the fact that as many as 80 people were killed and hundreds were injured in the violent clashes in El Alto, La Paz and other cities and I take this opportunity to express my condolences to the families concerned. We firmly hope that the persons responsible for the deaths and injuries will not go unpunished. We regret the chain of events which led to the resignation last Friday of the democratically elected former President González Sánchez de Lozada. I nevertheless welcome the orderly transition which has resulted in former Vice-President Carlos Mesa Gisbert assuming the presidency of the Republic of Bolivia in compliance with the provisions of its constitution. My colleague, Chris Patten, made a statement on Monday wishing President Mesa every success at what we surely all agree is a particularly critical moment in Bolivia's history.
The Commission has called upon all Bolivians to work together in an open and constructive spirit to find consensual solutions to the many challenges facing their country. We are fully committed to assisting the Bolivian authorities during the period of transition. Recent events have underlined the need to take steps to ensure the effective participation of Bolivia's citizens in democratic and constitutional governance. In this context, the Commission is ready to devote resources, building on its long tradition of cooperation with Bolivia, to support concrete measures which can improve the capacity of key actors to prevent and manage conflict in this very complex and divided country.
Before the escalating crisis during the last month, the Commission was already very concerned indeed about the potential for further outbreaks of serious and violent political conflict in Bolivia following the events of 12 and 13 February 2003, when the police rioted in response to the former president's budget proposals and the subsequent clashes left 33 people dead and nearly 200 wounded. Making use of its rapid reaction mechanism, the Commission initiated a conflict assessment mission, which completed its field work at the end of June 2003. As a result we are considering drawing on the rapid reaction mechanism budget line, up to EUR 1 million, and are examining ideas and proposals for concrete short-term measures in the field of conflict prevention and management, which we hope to discuss in the very near future in close coordination with the new government of President Carlos Mesa.
We are particularly interested in supporting measures which could strengthen the capacity of the Congress and Senate to respond effectively to the many and often conflicting demands of Bolivian citizens before they become unmanageable and spill over into further episodes of violent conflict. The Commission also intends to explore with the new government the possibility of re-orienting a limited part of those funds which have not yet been committed from our country strategy paper envelope for 2000-2006 towards a longer term programme with an explicit conflict prevention focus. The recent events and their dramatic dénouement prove the need for the European Union to continue strengthening its long-standing partnership with Bolivia, to promote respect and trust for democratic principles, to assist with desperately needed economic recovery and to support Bolivia's efforts to alleviate poverty and stamp out social exclusion."@en1
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