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La Paz, Jun 29 (Prensa Latina) Former Bolivian minister Mariana Prado (2017-2019) remains today as running mate of the presidential candidate of the leftist Alianza Popular, Andrónico Rodríguez, in view of the general elections of next August 17.

He also ratified her as a candidate for the vice-presidency of the State during a massive rally in the Villarroel square, in La Paz, at the official launching of her campaign for the elections.

Prado's possible candidacy was criticized by several sectors, despite being, together with Eva Copa (presidential candidate of the National Renewal Movement, Morena), the only woman candidate for one of the two most important posts in the country. For that reason her candidacy remained in suspense until now, however, against all odds, Rodriguez ratified it.

“With our colleague Mariana, who we made the decision to assume with so much responsibility for the future, we want to thank you for your contributions to the government program”, said the senatorial leader to his thousands of followers.

Likewise, he thanked his running mate for following him and ratified the purpose of leading the country after a victory in the elections.

Prada was next to the candidate in the platform installed in the center of the Villarroel Square, without making any speech, although he did greet the different popular sectors that attended the event.

Referring to the process of public acts that begin this week, Rodriguez warned about the intention of a “dirty war”. and reaffirmed that he “will not give up” in the fight for “better days”.

"We have 50 days of campaign and work to reach the Presidency and change our homeland.

Our process has to be up to the demands of the new times", said the legislator, originally from the Chapare area of Cochabamba.

He took the opportunity to criticize the candidates of other parties, whose past he criticized.

“The political actors that today are presenting themselves with a renewed suit are the same ones that have been part of the coalition governments, which have led to regression”, he said in reference to the right-wing candidates Jorge Tuto Quiroga, Samuel Doria Medina and Manfred Reyes Villa.

Five parties and five political alliances are competing in the campaign, according to the current electoral calendar.

Next August 17, Bolivians will go to the polls to elect the country's president, vice-president, 130 deputies, 36 senators and nine representatives to supra-state bodies.

All this is taking place in a context of division within the ruling party and the national popular movement camp, in which there is a fierce fight between the sectors related to Morales, President Luis Arce and Rodríguez, as if “the main enemy” did not exist, deplore the supporters of unity.

Havana, Jun 28 (Prensa Latina) Cuba's ambassador to Budapest, Guillermo Vázquez, participated as guest of honor at the opening of the China Trade and Industry Fair in Hungary, the Cuban Foreign Ministry announced today.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the opening of the event he exchanged with Hungarian and Chinese authorities, to whom he declared the importance for the Caribbean nation of “economic-commercial ties with the Asian region and Eastern European countries”.

He also, the text notes, “extended invitations for the Havana International Fair, FIHAV 2025”.

Vázquez made a “tour of the Fair in the company of the Hungarian delegation headed by the First Vice President of the Hungarian Parliament and founder since the nineties of the Hungary-China Chamber of Commerce”, states the note.

Chisinau, Jun 24 (Prensa Latina) Moldovan Foreign Minister Mikhail Popsoi said today that his country will not extend the treaty on cultural exchange and collaboration with Russia, concluded in 1998.

"The treaty on cultural exchange and cooperation with Russia signed in 1998 does not imply unilateral cancellation. We can only not prolong the treaty. And we have already made it clear to the Russian side," Popsoi told TV8 on Tuesday.

The head of state said that the decision of the Moldovan side is final and he “would like, like all the citizens who support this decision, to make it sooner”, but Chisinau is obliged to respect the international law.

At the same time, the chancellor was vague when it came to mentioning a specific date for terminating the validity of the agreement. “Within a couple of months or six months, I don't remember precisely, but it seems to me that before a year,” he commented.

Popsoi stressed that Moldova maintains appreciation for the Russian language and culture, “the good things we had in our history.”

Earlier, the deputy of the Electoral Bloc of Communists and Socialists, Bogdan Tirdea, stated that the Moldovan authorities had initiated the process of termination of the agreement to close the Russian Center of Science and Culture in Chisinau, revealing that the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity had submitted the corresponding initiative to the parliament.

On February 13, the Moldovan Foreign Ministry announced that it had unilaterally terminated the agreement with Russia on the establishment and operation of cultural centers, which meant that the Russian Center for Science and Culture would have to cease its activities.

The decision of the Moldovan authorities to close the Russian cultural center that has been operating for 16 years provoked severe criticism from social organizations that bring together citizens of different nationalities with interest in Russian culture.

Relations between Russia and Moldova began to deteriorate after the current president Maia Sandu, who follows a pro-European policy, came to power in the republic at the end of 2020.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moldova under the current government aspires to become a hostile country for Russia, while Moscow calls on Chisinau to respect the interests of its own citizens and not to hinder the development of human contacts and interregional ties with the Eurasian giant.

The Russian Foreign Ministry in turn called on the Moldovan authorities to put an end to anti-Russian confrontational rhetoric in the country, stressing that it intends to maintain friendly relations and is against Western attempts to use Moldova for anti-Russian purposes.