News from Bolivia

 Through a letter addressed to Andrónico Rodríguez, president of the Senate, and Omar Yujra, president of the Chamber of Deputies, the Geneva Club (CDG) raised a series of concerns regarding the contract signed between Bolivia’s state-owned Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) and the Russian company Uranium One Group. The Geneva Club, an association based in Switzerland, pointed out that the contract commits Bolivia until at least 2047, does not bring benefits to the country, and keeps it as a mere raw material supplier. “The partnership contract, in which YLB nominally holds 51%, does not provide for profit distribution. Along with three other contracts that would be signed without the participation of the Legislative Assembly, it forms part of the ‘package’ of contracts presented to the Assembly,” the Geneva Club’s statement noted. The document further added that the agreement between the State and the Russian company “would generate a debt of at least $976 million” and an obli...

 The departmental prosecutor of Tarija, Sandra Gutiérrez, confirmed to EL DEBER that the precautionary hearing against former President Evo Morales has been postponed. It has been rescheduled for January 17. Gutiérrez stated that the former president's lawyers presented a medical certificate, leading Judge Nelson Rocabado to suspend the hearing after the document was evaluated by a forensic doctor. The defense claimed that Morales is suffering from pneumonia. According to the judge's decision, the new precautionary hearing against former President Evo Morales will take place this Friday (01/17) at 9:30 a.m. "We hope Evo Morales will attend, and there will be no more stalling tactics in this case," Gutiérrez said after the conclusion of the hearing at the Fifth Anti-Corruption and Violence Against Women Criminal Court in Tarija. Additionally, the prosecutor mentioned that the mother of the victim, Idelsa Pozo, has been declared in contempt for failing to appear along w...