Karen Longaric Rodríguez (born 1957) is a

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

n lawyer, professor, columnist and politician who served as the

Foreign Minister of Bolivia The Foreign Minister of Bolivia (Spanish ''Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores'' or informally ''Canciller'') is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bolivia), Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The current minister is Rogelio Mayta, who was appoi ...

during the interim administration of

Jeanine Áñez Jeanine Áñez Chávez (; born 13 June 1967) is a Bolivian lawyer, politician, and television presenter who served as the 66th president of Bolivia from 2019 to 2020. A former member of the Social Democratic Movement, she previously served two ...

. She held positions in the Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Director of International Organizations and as Director of Legal Affairs and International Treaties.

Biography

Longaric was born in

Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the List of cities in Bolivia, 6th most populated city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . T ...

in 1957. She is a graduate in law of the Higher University of San Andrés (UMSA) in La Paz and has a doctorate in international law and legal studies from the

University of Havana The University of Havana or (UH, ''Universidad de La Habana'') is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba. Founded on January 5, 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first ...

. She is a veteran of foreign relations, having worked for in the foreign ministry since 1980. Prior to her current position, she has twice held positions in the Foreign Ministry of Bolivia, first as Director of International Organizations and then as Director of Legal Affairs and International Treaties. In July 2020 she announced that she had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and had to self-isolate at home.

Bolivian Foreign Minister

On 13 November 2019, she was named as Minister for Foreign Affairs. Her main focus since her appointment has been to boost and strengthen ties with other countries, especially with those where relations had been broken during the government of Evo Morales, such as the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, while distancing Bolivia from strong allies of Morales. In of her first acts as minister, she announced an immediate rejection of the government of

Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and president of Venezuela since 2013, with his presidency under dispute since 2019. Beginning his working life as a bus driver, Maduro rose to become a trade unio ...

and pledged support for the acting

President of Venezuela The president of Venezuela ( es, Presidente de Venezuela), officially known as the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, Presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is the head of state and head of government in Ven ...

Juan Guaidó Juan Gerardo Guaidó Márquez (born 28 July 1983) is a Venezuelan politician, a former member of the Social democracy, social-democratic Popular Will party, and federal deputy to the National Assembly (Venezuela), National Assembly representing ...

. This new alignment was also signalled by her announcement of Bolivia's withdrawal from the

ALBA ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scottish people, Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed i ...

group and subsequent joining of the Lima Group. On 15 November 2019, Longaric expelled 725 Cuban citizens, mostly medical doctors, after she raised concerns about their alleged involvement in protests. In January 2020, her ministry suspended relations with

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

in response to remarks made by Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, who called Áñez a "liar," "coupist" and "self-proclaimed" in reference to her latest statements about the role of Cuban medical doctors in the country. Diplomatic relationships between Bolivia and Mexico have been strained under the interim government, giving rise to the

2019–2020 Mexico–Bolivia diplomatic crisis The 2019–2020 Mexico–Bolivia diplomatic crisis began on 29 October 2019 when the Mexican government congratulated incumbent Bolivian President Evo Morales for his reelection victory. After the election, a preliminary report by the Organizatio ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longaric, Karen 1957 births Bolivian people of Croatian descent Bolivian diplomats Bolivian women lawyers Female foreign ministers Foreign ministers of Bolivia Living people People from Sucre Women government ministers of Bolivia 20th-century Bolivian lawyers