After meeting with new Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the two countries would restore diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level for the first time since 2008. This was reported by ABI agency.
Landau lamented that the absence of ambassadors for many years had hindered communication between nations. Paz sees rapprochement at this level as “another step towards opening Bolivia to the world and attracting the world to Bolivia.”
The country has been without an ambassador for 17 years. On September 12, 2008, the Bolivian government declared US Ambassador Philip Goldberg persona non grata for allegedly interfering in the country's internal affairs.
He is said to have met with opposition politicians amid protests in Bolivia. In response, the US government did the same thing with the Latin American ambassador, Gustavo Guzman.
