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Politics : Moderate Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (4009)	10/14/2003 4:11:26 PM
From: epicure	Respond to of 20773

Not a country we talk about often- but this seemed important: Bolivia Revolt Claims New Victim, Paralyzes Capital By REUTERS Published: October 14, 2003 Filed at 2:05 p.m. ET LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - A popular revolt against Bolivia's president sparked more deadly street clashes on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 53 in weeks of protests that have forced many terrified residents of the capital to hide indoors. At least one worker was killed in the suburb of El Alto, a local human rights group said, as thousands of demonstrators ranging from coca farmers to bus drivers protested pro-U.S., free-market policies in South America's poorest country. Advertisement President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, who has rejected widespread demands for him to step down, met with his political allies to ensure their continued support. Dozens of tanks ringed his palace as, just a few blocks away, some marchers chanted death threats against him. The mountain capital of La Paz has suffered from weeks of looting, food shortages and gun battles between protesters and police. At least 14 people were killed on Monday, according to Bolivia's Permanent Human Rights Assembly, which compiles casualty figures from hospitals. Movement was nearly impossible again on Tuesday morning as demonstrators dug up roads with picks and scattered the paving stones to block major intersections. In recent days, some commuters have had their cars pelted with rocks by mobs. Three babies have died in a La Paz hospital due to a shortage of oxygen, doctors said on Tuesday. The unrest has been spearheaded by Bolivia's indigenous majority, which has accused Sanchez de Lozada of pandering to the U.S. government's war on drugs and failing to lift the country out of 20 years of economic stagnation. Farmers of coca, the raw material used to make cocaine, have been angered by the highly successful program to eradicate their crop. Schoolteachers and bus drivers are on strike, while the international airport remains closed. NO PEACE IN LA PAZ Sanchez de Lozada was elected by Congress in 2002 after failing to win a majority of the popular vote in this nation of 8 million, 60 percent of which lives on less than $2 a day. Vice President Carlos Mesa withdrew his support for the government over the weekend, but said on Tuesday he would try to get Congress to find an orderly solution to the conflict. The army, the traditional power broker in coup-prone Bolivia, issued a statement late on Monday expressing its support. Former president Jaime Paz Zamora also said his leftist party, a key member of the strained ruling coalition, backed the president ``for reasons of responsibility.'' Paz Zamora himself was targeted by hundreds of protesters on Monday who attempted to break into his house. The latest round of protests were triggered by a government plan to export natural gas to the United States, which struck a historical nerve in a country where foreign powers have exploited natural wealth at little benefit to the population. As many as 8 million Indians and slaves died working in silver mines during hundreds of years of colonial Spanish rule. Sanchez de Lozada abandoned the gas export project on Monday, but protest leaders said the gesture came too late to save his government which just eight months ago had to fend off rioting that left 32 dead.