Bolivia faces pressures from protesters, provinces

[struggle4progress]

22 May 2005 22:10:12 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Mario Roque

LA PAZ, Bolivia, May 22 (Reuters) - Bolivia's two major conflicts -- indigenous protests over natural gas and wealthy provinces' wish for autonomy -- converge this week as both movements pile pressure on embattled President Carlos Mesa.

On Monday, protesters in the militant indigenous city of El Alto -- overlooking the capital La Paz and site of the international airport -- begin an indefinite strike over the controversial energy law approved last week by Congress. <snip>

Hundreds of miles from the indigenous Andean highland, civic leaders in the wealthy, tropical province of Santa Cruz decided this weekend to hold a referendum on autonomy on Aug. 12 after Congress failed to agree last week on a referendum as promised.

Santa Cruz threw Bolivia into a constitutional crisis last January with threats to break away, but tempered its demands after Mesa and Congress said they would work toward a process to give Bolivia's provinces more autonomy. But there are deep divisions between east and west on over how to do it. <snip>

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