- Title: BOLIVIA: BOLIVIANS AWAKE TO NEW PRESIDENT, AFTERMATH.
- Date: 18th October 2003
- Summary: (W5) LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (OCTOBER 18, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. GV: DEMONSTRATORS CELEBRATING AT DAWN 0.08 2. CU: NEWSPAPER HEADLINE 0.13 3. LV/GV/CU: VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF PRESIDENTIAL PALACE, SOLDIERS (3 SHOTS) 0.29 4. GV: VARIOUS OF WORKERS CLEANING STREETS (4 SHOTS) 0.52 5. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED RESIDENT OF LA PAZ SAYING: "What the people want is that they fulfill their promises. The people only want peace. We don't want any more strikes. What we want is to live in peace and tranquility." 1.11 6. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ANOTHER UNIDENTIFIED RESIDENT OF LA PAZ SAYING: "Hopefully, we Bolivians will be more tranquil with this government and we will all work together to change the country. We are only hurting ourselves. Any president who comes into power, we Bolivians will have to make a maximum effort." 1.30 7. GV: STREET 1.37 8. MV.CU: VARIOUS OF NEWSPAPER VENDORS; HEADLINES (5 SHOTS) 1.56 9. GV: POLICE CONVOY THAT WILL ESCORT TRAPPED TOURISTS TO AIRPORT 2.01 10. MCU/GV: GERMAN NATIONAL IN CAR; GERMAN AND BRITISH NATIONALS GATHERED OUTSIDE HOTEL, POLICE ON SITE (2 SHOTS) 2.10 11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED BRITISH NATIONAL LEAVING COUNTRY SAYING: "We were ideally trying to get to Cuzco (Peru) in two days but unfortunately, we were in La Paz and we got caught in the riots. We've been here for a week but we're joining this German initiative to get out." 2.22 12. GV: CARAVAN OF TOURISTS LEAVING 2.28 13. GV/CU: VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS ON STREET (4 SHOTS) 2.47 14. GV.CU/MV: VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHERED IN PLAZA, FEEDING PIGEONS (4 SHOTS) 2.59 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 2nd November 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
- Country: Bolivia
- Reuters ID: LVA5M0VG9CHJMP5TYWQENALAI380
- Story Text: Bolivians awake to a new president.
Carlos Mesa, a moderate political unknown, took
over Bolivia's presidency on Saturday (October 18) after a
month-long bloody revolt by the country's Indian majority
forced the resignation of his predecessor.
Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, a free marketeer and key
U.S. ally in the anti-drug war, quit after an estimated 74
people died in a month of protests that saw the siege of
the capital by inhabitants of its poor outskirts.
Tens of thousands of farmers, workers and miners
marched in and around the world's highest capital for weeks
to reject Sanchez de Lozada's U.S.-backed, pro-market
policies.
Grievances ranged from a now-shelved plan to export
natural gas to the United States, to a U.S.-backed drive to
wipe out crops of the staple coca leaf -- the raw material
for cocaine.
Early on Saturday (October 18), La Paz seemed to return
to some normalcy, with more vehicles on the streets and
workers cleaning away debris used by demonstrators to block
highways.
Headlines read "Goni has resigned" and "We won".
People in the streets said they longed for peace and
stability.
"What the people want is that they fulfill their
promises. The people only want peace. We don't want any
more strikes. What we want is to live in peace and
tranquility," said one resident of La Paz.
"Hopefully, we Bolivians will be more tranquil with
this government and we will all work together to change the
country. We are only hurting ourselves. Any president who
comes into power, we Bolivians will have to make a maximum
effort," said another resident.
Tourists who found themselves trapped in Bolivia
continued making efforts to leave the country with police
convoys escorting them to the airport.
"We were ideally trying to get to Cuzco (Peru) in two
days but unfortunately, we were in La Paz and we got caught
in the riots," said one British national. "We've been here
for a week but we're joining this German initiative to get
out."
Mesa, the former vice president, is a respected
journalist, historian and TV anchorman. He was designated
by Congress to serve out Sanchez de Lozada's term, due to
end in 2007. But the new leader immediately asked for early
elections to be called.
News of Sanchez de Lozada's resignation saw protesters
dance, clap and bang drums in the narrow colonial streets.
Miners exploded dynamite before singing the national
anthem.
But once the party finishes, Mesa faces enormous
problems in a country that has undergone its worst crisis
in over 20 years of democracy. Plus, he has little
electoral legitimacy and no formal political party support.
He will have to negotiate with Indian groups who have
shown they can paralyze the country. Many of Bolivia's
eight million citizens live on less than 5 U.S. dollars
(USD) a week. The life expectancy in some areas of the
Andean country is under 45 years.
Mesa immediately proposed a binding referendum on a gas
project that is opposed by Indian groups who say it will
only benefit neighboring Chile, the United States and
foreign investors.
The 50-year-old leader also promised a reform of an
energy law criticized by Indian groups who say foreign
firms' profits are too high.
He asked Congress to shorten his mandate and call early
elections -- effectively asking to be a caretaker leader.
He also said his Cabinet would be made up of independents
like himself and include no party members.
Sanchez de Lozada, whose first 1993-1997 government was
marked by a wave of free market reforms, lasted only 14
months in the job after Mesa and coalition partners
abandoned him over the last week for his deadly suppression
of protests.
Mesa may well remember one phrase from Sanchez de
Lozada's bitter resignation letter sent to Congress on
Friday.
"I warn you that the dangers hanging over the country
remain intact," the letter read.
Local TV reported that the ex-president, guarded by
more than 300 troops, had flown from La Paz to the eastern
city of Santa Cruz, where he was due to board a flight for
Miami. The reports could not be immediately confirmed.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None