ENGAGING THE REGION ON BOLIVIA: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTO DOMINGO 005339 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/AND AND WHA/CAR-SEARBY E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2020 TAGS: BO PGOV PREL DR SUBJECT: ENGAGING THE REGION ON BOLIVIA: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC REF: STATE 221306 Classified By: Acting Economic and Political Counselor Bainbridge Cowel l ¶1. (C) Embassy on December 7 delivered reftel talking points to MFA South America director Juany Mejia de Gil, requesting the Dominican Republic's collaboration with the international effort to ensure free and fair elections in Bolivia and democratic stability for that nation. ¶2. (C) On December 9, Mejia de Gil informed us that the Dominican Republic would respond to an invitation received directly from the Bolivian Government to send election observers. The Central Election Board (JCE) here will send three of its nine judges as a delegation to observe the December 18 election in Bolivia. The observers will be: JCE Administrative Chamber president Nelson Gomez JCE Administrative Chamber judge Rafael Diaz Vasquez JCE Dispute Resolution Chamber judge Ramon Hernandez Dominguez ¶3. (C) Political officer encouraged the Dominican Republic to make supportive public statements before, during, and/or after the December 18 election. ¶4. (C) Mejia de Gil anticipated that the JCE "probably will make an announcement," but that it would be decided and issued by the JCE. She said the MFA would wait to see how the election process turned out before deciding what sort of message to send, perhaps through diplomatic channels. HERTELL