[stu]

Could this be another Latin country that experiences a left wing leader coming to power.

Bolivian democracy "on the verge of crumbling" link
[quote]Bolivian democracy is "on the verge of crumbling" due to pressures from leftist populism, stated “The Washington Postâ€

[gnm]

Not entirely surprising considering that one could just as easily say "Bolivia is crumbling" If I am not mistaken they are the poorest nation in south america....

If they think commies will save them perhaps they ought to examine the old soviet states first... of course if things don't go well in the next 15 years then every country will look like Bolivia.
-G

[MarioPro]

[URL=http://www.la-razon.com/Politica/Marzo/pol050323d.html]
Commander of the Armed Forces denied a possible coup d'etat
(FFAA niegan haber analizado un golpe)[/URL] The general commander of the Bolivian Armed Forces, Luis Aranda Granados, denied March 22nd that the military was discussing a possible coup d'etat after President Carlos Mesa had threatened to resign. Granados explained that the Military High Command had met with Mesa March 17th in an attempt to convince him not to step down.
Deputy Evo Morales from MAS said that he received information from journalists who had spoken with military sources who had stated that during that meeting the Armed Forces had considered the possibility of a coup. Source: La Razon 23 Mar 05 (in Spanish)

MarioPro Latest News Toolbar

[stu]

Bolivia protests resume despite president's offer to resign

A resignation offer by President Carlos Mesa, whose 19-month-old free-market government was unraveling, did little to halt a crippling blockade of La Paz Tuesday as tens of thousands of protesters marched on the capital for a second day.
The resignation, if accepted by Congress, could ultimately usher in new elections, raising the prospect of Bolivia becoming the seventh Latin American country to move to a leftist government suspicious of U.S. intentions in the region.

OAS considering ways to help Bolivia in political crisis

The Organization of American States is trying to determine how to help Bolivia after President Carlos Mesa offered his resignation, but the group has no plans to intervene in the South American country's turmoil, the OAS's chief said Tuesday.
OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza of Chile said he wanted to consult with delegations from the group's 34 member countries before responding to the announcement by Mesa, who told his nation Monday of his decision as street protests grew and the capital of La Paz was blockaded.

[stu]

Bolivian President Calls for Early New Elections to Stem Violent Protests

Bolivian President Carlos Mesa, who submitted his resignation Monday, has urged Congress to hold new elections as soon as possible to end weeks violent protests. Mr. Mesa's late night televised address came after tens of thousands of peasants and miners marched in La Paz Tuesday, demanding nationalization of the country's oil and gas industry

Outgoing president warns Bolivia is on brink of civil war

Outgoing President Carlos Mesa warned that Bolivia was on the brink of civil war and that immediate elections were the only way out, after clashes erupted between security forces and some of the tens of thousands of protesters who had poured into the capital.
Outgoing President Carlos Mesa warned that Bolivia was on the brink of civil war and that immediate elections were the only way out, after clashes erupted between security forces and some of the tens of thousands of protesters who had poured into the capital.

[stu]

Bolivia Crisis May Force Brazil to Ration

The political crisis that has engulfed Bolivia may force Brazil to ration the distribution of natural gas, the country's Energy Ministry said in a statement.
"The Energy Ministry and natural gas producers and distributors are elaborating a contingency supply plan ... in the event the situation in Bolivia leads to an interruption of gas supplies to Brazil," the statement, posted late Wednesday on the ministry's Web site, said.

Bolivia army says ready to preserve country's unity within constitution rules

The Bolivian military command said that it is ready to intervene to preserve the country's unity and sovereignty within the framework of the constitution. The army called for a 'social truce' in its statement. Rumours have been circulating in the past few weeks that the army was poised to take power.

[stu]

Bolivia's new leader to call elections

Bolivia's new interim president, Eduardo Rodriguez, takes office on Friday with a vow to hold elections and work with indigenous movements clamoring for nationalization of energy reserves and regional provinces demanding autonomy.

Rodriguez, the former Supreme Court chief, was sworn in late Thursday by lawmakers trying to defuse three weeks of indigenous protests that forced his predecessor, Carlos Mesa, to resign and stoked fears of violence in South Americas poorest nation.

[stu]

US behind Bolivia crisis - Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has blamed Washington's brand of capitalism for the recent troubles in Bolivia.
Speaking on his weekly TV programme, he said US open market policies in Latin America had led to "exclusion, misery and destabilisation".

Bolivia returns to normal as last barricades lifted

Bolivians have dismantled the last barricades from a month-long blockade that paralyzed the country's capital and ousted its president.
They removed the barriers on Saturday in and around El Alto, a slum city that sits in the mountains above La Paz. The move let gasoline, cooking fuel and crops from the countryside flow into the capital for the first time in weeks

[stu]

UN observer mission arrives in Bolivia

An United Nations observer mission arrived Monday afternoon in Bolivia to assess what assistance the world body can provide to the country within the framework of the political transition.
The mission, headed by UN under secretary general for economic and social affairs Jose Antonio Ocampo, will meet with President Eduardo Rodriguez to analyze the cause of the resignation of Carlos Mesa as president, and discuss solutions to the political, social and economic problems facing the country

The Real Problem Facing Latin America Isn't Instability -- It's Rigidity

After weeks of demonstrations, Bolivian Indians have forced out that country's president, believing that today's interim replacement and his successor will respond to their demands. History suggests that their hopes are likely to be dashed.
Less than two years ago, much the same thing happened to a different Bolivian president. His name, and the name of the man who stepped down last week, hardly even matter because the cycle of unrest will happen again and again in varying forms in Bolivia, and around South America, as it has for centuries until real change occurs

[stu]

U.N. envoy gives Bolivia backing

A special envoy to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan met Bolivia's caretaker president Eduardo Rodriguez on Monday in a show of support for the new government's efforts to hold early elections to end the Andean nation's simmering crisis.
U.N. envoy Jose Antonio Ocampo held talks in La Paz with Rodriguez, an interim leader sworn in last Thursday after weeks of crippling protests by indigenous groups, laborers and miners forced his predecessor to resign.

Bolivia's community media - 'ready for the revolution'

Weeks of protests in Bolivia by miners, peasants and trade unionists demanding the nationalization of their country's rich gas resources and constitutional reform ended after the resignation of President Carlos Mesa and the swearing-in of Eduardo Rodriguez as his temporary successor on 9 June. The caretaker president has said elections will be held within 180 days, and has also promised to study calls to nationalize the energy sector.

[Chicken_Little]

Not entirely surprising considering that one could just as easily say "Bolivia is crumbling" If I am not mistaken they are the poorest nation in south america.... If they think commies will save them perhaps they ought to examine the old soviet states first... of course if things don't go well in the next 15 years then every country will look like Bolivia.

They're trying to stop their corrupt government handing America Bolivia's oil and gas resources for a few worthless dollars.
A bit like Venezuela. Label them commies if you want, but the reality is that Latin America is waking up to the U.S.A.'s game. The average Bolivian will be better off using the gas themselves than exporting it.

[tokyo_to_motueka]

looks to me like a case of the rich white minority versus the poor indigenous majority.

i recomend a very interesting background piece on the subject:

The Crisis in Bolivia

[stu]

Elections for Bolivia

FOR THE SECOND time in less than two years mobs have defeated democratic institutions in the poor South American nation of Bolivia. President Carlos Mesa, who tried to settle paralyzing political conflicts through a referendum and accords with Congress, was forced from office earlier this month by a few thousand demonstrators who strangled the capital with road blockades. Mr. Mesa served only 19 months as president; his elected predecessor was also ousted by the militants. Capitulating to their demands, Congress swore in the president of the Supreme Court as a caretaker, and he in turn promised new elections. A free and fair vote offers the only real hope for Bolivia; the question is whether those who seek to rule by force will allow it to occur.

[shakespear1]

This is a recurrent theme in Latin America. 5 % controls 95 % of everything in the country.
Can you blame the 95% of the population for wanting something different when THEIR resources are sold and they need to pay heavy change for gas and oil in their country???

[tokyo_to_motueka]

The Crisis in Bolivia

Oil was first nationalised in Bolivia in 1937, a year before the Mexican wells were expropriated that were once Lord Cowdray's, and again in 1970. The shell of the state company, YPFB, still exists, and most Bolivians remain implacably hostile to foreign ownership, but private oil companies have kept coming back. When immense reserves of natural gas were discovered in the 1990s, some 50 trillion cubic feet at the last estimate, Bolivia became ever more attractive to external predators, its reserves second only to those of Venezuela.

The government and the companies (British Gas and Spain's Repsol among them) were keen to get the gas out of the ground and down to the coast, to be shipped off to California. Others, notably the spokesmen for the Indian majority, thought that gas might be better used to fuel Bolivia's own industrial development. The government's attempts to secure the export of the gas through Chile, Bolivia's traditional enemy (ever since the Chileans seized the territory in the 1880s through which the gas pipeline would have run), ended in October 2003 when violent protests in El Alto led to the overthrow of President Sánchez Losada, Bolivia's last elected president. This week's events have been an almost exact replay, with the resignation of the stop-gap president, Carlos Mesa, after prolonged Indian demonstrations and road blocks had made the country ungovernable by his regime. Something new was required.

i wonder who might benefit from the sale of Bolivia's oil and gas rights to foreign interests?

[stu]

Mercosur backs new Bolivian government

South American leaders from the Mercosur trade bloc expressed their support Monday for the new Bolivian leader who recently came to power

Bolivia Begins Decisive Week for Elections

The transitional government of Bolivian President Eduardo Rodriguez is starting Monday a decisive week seeking to achieve a political accord in order to make early general elections possible in this South American nation.
According to Jorge Lazarte, delegate-minister for Political Affairs, the government will use the sessions break of Congress to forge an understanding.
The effort is supported by increasing agreement for early elections following the President´s visit this weekend to the eastern city of Santa Cruz, stronghold of a regional and business movement

[shakespear1]

Tokyo. The "WHO" probable has accounts in Miami, London and Zurich.

[stu]

The hidden hypocrisy that drags down Bolivia

Bolivia stands on a cliff-edge. Politicians have manipulated the public's legitimate concerns over the use of concentrated wealth for illegitimate ends; but when the protests abate, Bolivia faces the same economic challenges, only with a more polarised electorate, damaged institutions and a tenser investment community.

Bolivia's left preparing for elections

Bolivian opposition leader Evo Morales is reportedly organizing a new campaign for the presidency.
La Razon reported Thursday Morales and his Movement Toward Socialism Party are already preparing for what promises to be a hotly contested race.

[stu]

Bolivia's popular uprising: staged or spontaneous?

At first sight, therefore, the campaign against the president appears to have been an authentic popular uprising. In reality, however, there's significant evidence that the movement was much less spontaneous, for further investigation shows that neighbourhood groups and trade unions have used coercion to force poor people and members of the native Indian population to take part in anti-government demonstrations.

Indian movement seeks 'to expel white invasion'

A growing indigenous movement has helped topple successive governments in Bolivia and Ecuador and, angered by the destruction of Andean coca crops, now threatens the stability of other countries where Indians are in the majority.
Drawing support from European leftists and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the long-marginalized Indians are tasting political influence for the first time since the Spanish conquest and beginning to wrest power from South America's white elites.

Bolivian acting president mulls ways to ease political tension

Bolivian acting President Eduardo Rodriguez on Thursday discussed with political leaders how to settle the country's political chaos, said news from La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia.
Rodriguez held talks with several parliamentarians and leaders from various civil organizations on the prospect of holding the anticipated general elections due in December and the referendum on departmental autonomy, said the report.
The nationalization of oil and gas industry and the drafting of a new constitution will be the task of the next government instead of Rodriguez's, said the report

[stu]

Reading between the pipelines

Presidents come and go in Bolivia. Eduardo Rodriguez, appointed earlier this month, is the country's fifth head of state since 2001.
What doesn't change, however, is the country's position as Latin America's poorest nation. Two other facts also merit note: it boasts the region's largest indigenous population (62%) and it sits on the continent's biggest gas reserves after Venezuela.