In the latest phase of Bolivia's "gas wars", President Carlos Mesa resigned on June 6 under heavy pressure from social movements to nationalize hydrocarbons. Peasant farmers are taking over oil fields, transportation is paralyzed and the U.S. Embassy has begun evacuating personnel. On June 9, President of the Senate Hormando Vaca Diez declined the Presidency, making head of the Supreme Court Eduardo Rodriguez the President and automatically triggering new elections.

 

For ongoing and archived coverage, see: Narco News(en), The Democracy Center(en) and CMI Bolivia(es).

 

For background, see: "Huyaco en los Andes"(es), "Bolivia on the Brink"(en), "New Uprising in Bolivia"(en) and ZNet's BoliviaWatch(en)

 

The government of the previous president of Bolivia, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozado, was toppled in October 2003 after Lozado signed contracts with transnational corporations giving away the gas and oil resources of Bolivia, Latin America's poorest country, for nearly free. Mesa, vice-president at the time, came into office promising to implement the "October agenda" of nationalization of hydrocarbons and convoking a constituent assembly to rewrite the Bolivian constitution in a way that includes the indigenous majority. However, since then Mesa has stalled, calling a national referendum on gas resources that did not include the option of nationalization--which, according to polls, was favored by a majority of Bolivians. On May 17, under pressure from social movements, Mesa passed a bill increasing taxes on multinationals but falling short of popular demands for nationalization of gas and oil, sparking a major wave of marches and strikes throughout the country. Despite Mesa's call for a constituent assembly on June 2, protests demanding "nationalization now" have only grown in strength.

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