Bolivia President Rodrigo Paz Criticized for Self‑Awarding Condor de los Andes Medal

Bolivia’s foreign minister Fernando Aramayo presented the Condor de los Andes Grand Collar to President Rodrigo Paz Pereira, invoking Law 1762. Opposition leader Samuel Doria Medina argued the law requires the president himself to grant the honor, saying the minister “wanted to do a favor… gave it to himself.”

Critics noted that the required Supreme Resolution, unanimous Council of ex‑chancellors act, and Senate approval were not produced, steps mandated by articles 4, 6 and 9 of the law. Article 13 stipulates that anyone wearing the medal without legal entitlement must be publicly admonished and the decoration withdrawn. Doria Medina called for the government to “think less about decorations and more about transformations,” echoing remarks from former deputy Tomás Monasterios and senator José Manuel Ormachea who urged focus on pressing issues such as the investigation of Bolivian deaths in the Russia‑Ukraine conflict.