This will be my last blog entry from La Paz. I am about to complete my mission here after just under four most stimulating and fascinating years in Bolivia. From later this month, I shall be taking up my new post as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to The Holy See. My successor, Ross Denny, arrives in Bolivia in October.
It is difficult to believe that four years have flown by, and I shall be sorry to leave this extraordinary country. I think it is true to say that a diplomat is never bored in Bolivia, and I have had my fair share of excitement. I have witnessed Presidential elections, Recall Referenda, Autonomy referenda and regional elections. I was a participant in the national dialogue that allowed the country to agree a new Constitution, after the violence and instability of September and October 2008. I have seen British commercial interests nationalised (I hope that the outstanding compensation cases will soon be settled justly and by mutual agreement), and major new British investments announced. Two British Ministers – Kim Howells and Jeremy Browne – have visited Bolivia, the first ministerial visits since the 1990s. Our bilateral relationship with the government of Bolivia – in counter-narcotics co-operation, climate change discussions, commercial and investment dialogue, the role of NGOs, collaboration in human rights, culture and sport, visa and consular issues – has, I believe, strengthened and deepened.
I should like to thank my many Bolivian friends from all walks of life for their patience, their warmth, and their understanding. And I should like to thank all of you who read, and especially those who have commented on, this blog which I hope has helped to contribute a little to the relationship between the United Kingdom and Bolivia, and to your understanding of the work and concerns of a British diplomat.