RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Bolivian government has fired its new ambassador to Paraguay, Mario Cronenbold, after he circulated a video on the social network Tik Tok alluding to the consumption of the infusion Tereré, which caused unrest in Paraguay, the Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday.
The Bolivian Foreign Ministry summoned the diplomat to explain the incident and said in a statement that “after receiving the report and assessing the circumstances, Ambassador Cronenbold was dismissed from his duties as of November 1, 2021.″
In the video, Cronenbold imitates the Paraguayan accent after drinking Tereré, an infusion based on yerba mate, a tradition in Paraguay.
He steps in front of the camera three times and changes his voice. The first time he imitates the voice of a typical Paraguayan after one Tereré drink, the second time after a week of drinking Tereré, and the third time after a month of drinking Tereré.
The video caused so much unrest in Paraguay that the Chamber of Deputies in Asunción declared him “persona non grata.”
The Bolivian Foreign Ministry said that “the incident has no impact on diplomatic relations between the Plurinational State of Bolivia and the Republic of Paraguay, which are currently at the highest level.”
Cronembold, a 47-year-old member of the ruling Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), released his video in late September and retracted it shortly after initial critical reactions.
He later apologized, saying, “I apologize to those who were offended by my recent tik tok. I inadvertently meant to allude to the warm welcome I have received and how welcome I feel to this beautiful country,” he said late last month.