MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina to file protest against Bolivia for motorbiker's death

The Argentine consulate in Cochabamba was reached after Benítez had died, so there was nothing to be done to save his life.

Argentina's Foreign Ministry Monday announced it will seek an explanation from Bolivian authorities regarding the death of the 61-year-old retired teacher from the province of Salta who was allegedly denied medical care after a motorcycle accident for being unable to afford it in Bolivian currency.

Read also: Argentine man reportedly left to die for lacking Bolivian money

The Argentine Government will file a formal protest Tuesday for the death of Alejandro Benítez, who should have been taken in an ambulance to somewhere with more complex medical facilities but was denied the service after neither he nor his motorcycling friends could afford the BOB 1,000 fee (US$ 144). “Your money is of no use to us”, the Argentine party was reportedly told when they tried to pay with Argentine pesos.

Benítez died after an accident between Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba. According to TN, the Argentine Embassy in La Paz is to deliver a formal protest note to the Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanding “explanations” about the incident, while highlighting the Argentine Government's “deep concern about the situation of the death of an Argentine citizen, who was in a life-threatening situation and did not have the necessary medical treatment” in breach of the international treaty on Medical Assistance signed in 2019.

The Argentine Foreign Ministry also told reporters Monday that Benítez's friends and family contacted the Argentine consulate in Cochabamba once the teacher had already passed away, due to which “it was not possible to intervene previously.”

Benítez had worked all his life as a teacher at Technical School 3135 in the town of General Mosconi in the province of Salta. He had retired less than a year ago.

In the meantime, protests mount on social media demanding that all Bolivian citizens be denied medical treatment at Argentine public facilities, which is in all cases free of charge, which could spark xenophobic violence in the country, according to sources in Buenos Aires consulted by MercoPress.