The vice president of Bolivia, Alvaro Garcia Linera, recently declared that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) currently working in the country  “are becoming less necessary.”  Although he guaranteed the continuation of the work of national NGOs, he also mentioned that the Earth foundation (Fundación Tierra), CEDIB, CEDLA, and Millennium (Milenio) are politcally outmoded NGOs that now represent the right wing, and therefore stand in opposition to the government. He warned that such organizations “have no right to get involved in or finance political activity,” and if they do so, they will be “observed, monitored, and if necessary expelled” as happened to the Danish NGO IBIS.

After Vice President Linera’s statement, renowned academics from Latin America, North America, and Europe drafted a “Letter of Support” to show their solidarity with CEDLA and the other NGOs that the vice president mentioned.

As a response to the Letter of Support, the vice president sent a letter(document attached) addressed to “worried friends” where he expressed  that these four Bolivian NGOs have every right to exist, work, research and even be involved in politics; adding, however, that “we have the right to criticize their ideology financed by  imperial interest.”

See more information below.

http://www.correodelsur.com/20150813/politica/vicepresidente-advierte-con-expulsar-a-las-financiadoras-de-las-ongs

Sobre las ONGs. Respuesta de Alvaro Garcia Linera a amigos preocupados