Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (103722)	3/8/2005 6:47:20 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793838

VICTORY IN BOLIVIA publiuspundit.com Bolivia’s president has won! Just as one of our excellent Bolivian bloggers, MABB’s Miguel told us yesterday, Bolivia’s President Carlos Mesa has won! Congress this morning voted to reject his resignation. The People Power revolution has beaten Evo Morales and all his mob soundly. Pres. Mesa stays, and not only that, he’s now in a position of political strength! A weak state may now become a strong, effective one. Pres. Mesa, who’s a well-regarded, even-handed non-partisan political leader, may be just the one who can help Bolivia along in its national development. This is tremendous news! Bolivia has won! Will add more links and a news roundup soon. ABC News Bolivia Congress to Reject President's Resignation Reuters Mar. 8, 2005 - Bolivia's main political parties planned to reject President Carlos Mesa's resignation when Congress meets Tuesday, calling his leadership a necessary evil to avoid total chaos. Indigenous protest leaders also said they would ask Mesa to reverse his surprise decision to quit over the weekend in frustration at street protests and highway blockades that have paralyzed much of the Andean nation. Riot police with helmets and shields patrolled the protest hotbed of El Alto at dawn, but community leaders in the city said they would tone down demonstrations, fearing that whoever replaced Mesa could crack down on them and cause a bloodbath. "The presidency of Carlos Mesa is a necessary evil," Roberto de la Cruz, an indigenous leader in El Alto, told local television. "If he resigns, it would be disastrous for our social movements. I don't think (Congress) will accept it." "That letter (of resignation) should not even be read," Evo Morales, influential leader of Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, was quoted as saying in local newspapers. The resignation offer may have been a risky gamble by Mesa to rally political support and avoid the fate of his predecessor President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, who was ousted in 2003 after dozens of mainly Indian demonstrators were killed in clashes with security forces. Hormando Vaca Diez, president of the Senate, said: "Carlos Mesa will be president until 2007." Congress was set to meet at 4 p.m. to decide whether to accept Mesa's resignation. Mesa has indicated he may be willing to stay on, but in return he wants an end to protests and concessions on a controversial energy law. Opposition to foreign energy companies has been a rallying cry for broader protest in Bolivia in recent months, as the poor Indian majority demands a share of future wealth from vast natural gas reserves, most of which have yet to be tapped. Mesa has pushed for new laws aimed at enticing foreign investment in gas, but many Bolivians fear a repeat of a painful history of foreign powers whisking away mineral wealth with little benefit for the poor. Despite massive gas, gold and silver finds over the centuries, Bolivia remains South America's poorest country. Protests over gas exports in October 2003 killed 67 people and led Sanchez de Lozada to flee the country. However, Mesa remains popular and a small group of supporters gathered outside his home Tuesday asking him to stay. "If Congress votes to accept the resignation, there will be a mob outside waiting to lynch them," said Ricardo Clemente, an insurance salesman on his way to work downtown. "It would solve nothing, and whoever replaced Mesa would be worse." The protests have also deepened Bolivia's long-running racial divide between Indians and the European-descended elite. Mesa, a former historian and journalist, is widely seen as a peacemaker in a unique position to save the country from disintegration as a separatist movement gains steam. "His resignation would only deepen the crisis we're living in," said Manfred Reyes Villa, head of the New Republican Force opposition party. "We all want stability. There needs to be a great spiritual disarmament in Bolivia," he said. "Without that, we're just going to be back here in a month or two months with another government resigning. We don't want that." Copyright 2005 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures

To: LindyBill who wrote (103722)	3/8/2005 7:11:10 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793838

The key question is not whether the Republicans will distort these positions, but whether her party's left wing will permit her consistently to take them And whether the electorate will believe them, once taken. Have you noticed that for many Democratic analysts (and Vennochi is usually a pretty reasonable one), pointing out the contradictions between what your candidate says today and what he/she said five years ago, is now described as a Karl Rove dirty trick? Hullo, why don't you just find a candidate who can run as himself, wouldn't that be simpler?