News briefs

10.17.2003

Four people were injured in Santa Cruz, in the Plaza 24 de Septiembre. Marchers from Evo Morales' MAS entered the city to protest the government. At the same time, the Nación Camba and the Unión Juvenil Cruceña, were marching to support the government. The scene turned (briefly) into a street brawl. The country hangs on the edge of civil war.

Banks are now closed nation-wide, in anticipation of the announcement that Goni'll resign his presidency. A bank run started shortly after the announcement, so the Central Bank decided to close all national banks at noon. My uncle works at the Central Bank, he just showed me the drop in deposits; the banks are almost out of money.

My tío Juan (73 years old) marched today w/ some of his neighbors to call for Goni's resignation. He had to. Syndicate members in his neighborhood threatened to ransack his house in Alto Irpavi. Why? My uncle's been an MNR member since before 1952.

Evo Morales was interviewed again on CNN. He's clearly not used to dealing w/ a professional media (Bolivian journalists are very poorly trained). He was asked a simple yes/no question regarding his connection to Colombia's FARC. He dodged the question w/ a long rambling spiel. Rather than letting it drop (as the Bolivian press does), the CNN reporter pressed the question further. Evo dodged again, but in his statement added: "I don't know Qadafi." Again, the reporter pressed: "But you do know Qadafi, you've travelled there numerous times." Evo insisted that he's been to Lybia, but never met Qadafi. Funny, I remember him receiving a $5,000 "peace" prize and medal from Qadafi, personally.

Evo's then asked whether he'll support Carlos Mesa (the current vice president) as president until 2007 (the end of Goni's term). Again, he's dodging the question. The reporters are asking him to state, clearly, whether he'll support Mesa as president until 2007, as the constitution calls. He's asked a third time, but refuses to answer the question. Which is essentially a question of: Will you keep striking against Mesa? Will you respect the constitution?

Mesa announced he didn't support the radical protesters (led by Evo, Mallku, Solares), even if he no longer supports the president. He's being accused by some of opportunism, but he's respected by much of the middle class and intellectuals. The question of course, is: How will his government solve the economic crisis which is the root cause of current events?

Miners celebrate Goni's likely resignation by tossing dynamite in the air. They marched from Oruro to La Paz and took over the university campus several days ago.

Meanwhile, Solares gave a speech to the COB. He's calling on the people to not be "tricked" by the president's resignation. They'll continue protesting; they demand everyone's resignation.

And the clincher on the news: Goni's in Santa Cruz, the department that most supports him. There's talk of him leading a march there later this afternoon. Other channels claim he's still in La Paz.

Posted by Miguel at 05:32 PM