Mexico to OAS: Stop interfering in Bolivia's internal affairs

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's Foreign Ministry criticized the Organization of American States (OAS) on Wednesday for what it described as interference in the internal affairs of Bolivia, where a former president was recently jailed on charges of fomenting a coup.

The rebuke of the Washington-based association of governments across the Americas followed several dueling statements after the Bolivian government last weekend jailed ex-President Jeanine Añez along with two of her former ministers it accused of participating in a coup to oust longtime leader Evo Morales in 2019.

Añez, who took over as president when Morales resigned following pressure from the military, denies the allegations and says she is the victim of political persecution.

A conservative former senator, Añez began a four-month jail term on Monday.

The arrest of Añez - who was in power for less than a year after the ouster of the leftist Morales - sparked criticism from the OAS and human rights groups that say judicial channels are being abused for political ends.

In its statement earlier on Wednesday, the OAS called for "credible and impartial trials" and stressed what it described as worsening political interference and corruption in Bolivia's judicial system.

The statement from Mexico's Foreign Ministry urged the OAS to refrain from "making unilateral pronouncements in the name of all member-states."

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said his country's foreign policy is guided by the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. Critics argue he has departed from that position when dealing with fellow Latin American leftists like Morales.

(Reporting by Miguel Angel Gutierrez and Diego Ore; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Anthony Esposito and Peter Cooney)