Next Saturday, Ebrard (on the right, in the picture) will participate as guest of honor in the commemorative activities on the occasion of the 197th Anniversary of the Independence of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. | Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico

La Paz, August 5 (RHC)-- Mexico's Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, began an official visit to Bolivia on Thursday, in the context of a tour of South American countries with stops in Peru and Colombia, where the tour will culminate next Sunday. 

Bolivia will be the second stop of the tour and its purpose, according to the Bolivian Foreign Ministry, will be to strengthen the bilateral agenda, framed in cooperation and solidarity between peoples, and to strengthen historical ties, which include more than 190 years of diplomatic relations.

The governments of Luis Arce and Andrés Manuel López Obrador maintain close ties of cooperation and friendship.  The Bolivian president visited Mexico last March.  There he made official the termination of visa requirements for Bolivians and signed bilateral agreements with his Mexican counterpart in at least seven areas of bilateral cooperation.

The Mexican president has been critical of the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, for his role in the 2019 coup d'état in Bolivia.
That attack on democracy led to the exile of then president Evo Morales, the usurpation of power by former senator Jeanine Áñez and the massacres of Sacaba and Senkata.

On Friday, Ebrad will visit the Salar de Uyuni, the largest brine-type lithium reserve in the world, where he will tour the Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) plant to promote collaboration between the two countries in this area, and learn first-hand about the Bolivian experience in the exploration and exploitation of this mineral. 

Mexico seeks to advance an informal regional cooperation scheme of Latin American countries with the largest reserves of this strategic mineral.

On Saturday, Ebrard will participate as guest of honor in the commemorative activities on the occasion of the 197th Anniversary of the Independence of the Plurinational State of Bolivia.

On Sunday, the Mexican foreign minister will attend the inauguration of the new Colombian President, Gustavo Petro, as the culmination of his visit.