New Pres.: “Bolivia deserves better days”

The indigenous-led rebellion in Latin America’s poorest country, Bolivia, has taken yet another dramatic turn. After a tense day and rumors of coup plots and possible civil war, the country has a new president. The Bolivian Congress named Supreme Court chief Eduardo Rodriguez to replace Carlos Mesa, who resigned earlier this week amid massive protests. Rodriguez is president of the Supreme Court with a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University. After being sworn in, he called for general elections. While he did not set a date for the polls, the constitution stipulates that new elections must be held within six months. Congress endorsed Rodriguez after accepting the resignation of Carlos Mesa. Hours earlier, the President of the Bolivian Senate – Hormando Vaca Diez – announced that he would not seek to assume the Presidency.

Hormando Vaca Diez:
“For the unity of our country, so the clashes end, so that Bolivia can recover its normality and so that the experience we’ve lived through in our country may never be repeated, I resign the succession as mandated by Article 93 of the State Political Constitution.”

Vaca Diez made the announcement after protesters blockaded parliament to prevent his appointment. Rodriguez assumed the presidency after the head of the lower house of Congress also declined the post. The country’s airports were also shut down after air traffic controllers started a strike to oppose Vaca Diez.

Congress met in Sucre, instead of its headquarters in La Paz, to try to avoid massive indigenous-led protests but the demonstrators followed them. Security forces had tried to seal off Sucre from demonstrators but they got through and battled police in the downtown area.

Protesters took over three oil fields belonging to British Petroleum and four belonging to Spain’s Repsol. They have also taken over a pipeline station on the border with Chile. At the request of the government, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan dispatched a senior official to the country to act as an observer.

The mainly peaceful protests turned violent when Coro Mayta, a miner union leader, was shot dead by a soldier near Sucre. This is opposition leader Evo Morales

Evo Morales:
“What’s happened in Bolivia is unfortunate. Because of Hormando
Vaca Diez, President of Congress, we’ve lost the life of a comrade like Carlos
Coro. It’s unfortunate because, despite everything, the attitude of Mister
Hormando Vaca Diez doesn’t change.”

Immediately after Rodriguez assumed power, Morales urged him to promise to nationalize the oil and gas industry and to convene a constitutional assembly.

• Marcela Olivera, Bolivian researcher and activist who works at the Democracy Center in Cochabamba. She was a member of the Coalition in Defense of Water and Life that organized a popular uprising against the privatization of the Cochabamba water system by Bechtel and the World Bank. Last year she worked with Public Citizen in Washington to develop an Interamerican water activist network.
• Jim Shultz, Executive Director of the Democracy Center in Cochabama, Bolivia. He writes a blog on the situation in Bolivia that can be found at DemocracyCtr.org.
• Tom Hayden, former California State Senator. He traveled to Bolivia last year, interviewed Evo Morales and wrote an article for the Nation magazine titled Bolivia’s Indian Revolt.

His inauguration and the prospect of an election was hailed by protesters, who have been holding daily demonstrations and blockades since last month.

“Bolivia deserves better days,” Mr Rodriguez told deputies.

“I am convinced that one of my tasks will be to begin an electoral process to renew and continue building a democratic system that is more just.”

Under the constitution, an election must be held be held by the end of the year.