Former Bolivian president Evo Morales Photo: IC

 

Bolivia appointed its first Ambassador to the US in 11 years on Tuesday, officials said, as the interim government resets the country's foreign policy after the departure of Evo Morales.

Walter Oscar Serrate Cuellar - previously Bolivia's ambassador and permanent representative at the United ­Nations - has been given the key posting, the foreign ministry announced on Twitter, filling a position left vacant since a diplomatic spat between La Paz and Washington in 2008.

The high-profile appointment, which has to be approved by the Senate, came as the caretaker government prepares to hold new elections that exclude Morales.

Under Morales, Bolivia's president for nearly 14 years, ties with the US were tense.

Relations took a turn for the worse under former US president George W. Bush, with the expulsion of ambassadors from both countries in late 2008.

Morales resigned on November 10 and fled to Mexico where he was granted political asylum after disputed October 20 elections ignited street protests.

Morales, who had been seeking a fourth term, claimed victory, but opposition groups said the results were rigged.

Since declaring herself interim president, right-wing senator Jeanine Anez, who has been recognized by the US, has wasted no time rewriting Bolivia's foreign policy. She broke ties with socialist Cuba and Nicolas Maduro's Venezuela.

Anez's first foreign policy decision was to recognize Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's president, joining a group of around 50 countries.

Bolivian Foreign Minister Karen Longaric announced Venezuelan diplomats would be sent home for "violating diplomatic norms."

Bolivia also fired all its ambassadors except those to Peru and the Vatican.

Tuesday's announcement came as some 20 former members of Morales' government were holed up in the Mexican Embassy in La Paz, the foreign ministry said. 

Five of them - including Morales' former top minister Juan Ramon Quintana - are wanted for arrest. 

Both Morales and Quintana have been accused of sedition and terrorism.