Bolivia cancels gas exports

2003-10-14 10:31

La Paz - Violent protests have continued, leaving another 12 people dead, after Bolivia's president announced he would cancel controversial plans to export natural gas.

The government had estimated that revenues from the gas exports would bring about $1.5bn a year to Bolivia, South America's poorest nation.

But union leaders and the nation's poor Indian majority argue the economic benefits won't reach them.

After days of protests and calls for his resignation, President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada said on Monday he would abandon the plans to export gas from Bolivia's mammoth reserves in the southern region of Tarija to the United States and Mexico.

He said he would negotiate with opponents until the end of the year. In the meantime, he said, "There will be no gas exports to new markets."

Protest leaders, however, said that was not enough.

Congressman Evo Morales said: "The only political solution to this crisis is the resignation of the president of the republic. "What the Bolivian people want is that the gas remain in Bolivia, for the benefit of Bolivians."

The president rejected demands for his resignation, saying his government "is the result of a popular election" and had the support of the armed forces and police.

Transport strike paralyses La Paz

Addressing the nation on radio and television after meeting with top advisers and military leaders, Sanchez de Lozada vowed "to defeat the sedition and restore order".

He called the massive protests "a plot encouraged from abroad aimed at destroying Bolivia and staining our democracy with blood". He did not elaborate.

Thousands took to the streets and chanted anti-government slogans in the capital on Monday. Radio and TV stations reported that 12 more people died in clashes on Monday in La Paz, raising the number of those killed in days of massive protests about the gas-export plans to 25. The government, however, did not report any new casualties on Monday.

Opponents also organised a public transport strike that virtually paralysed La Paz on Monday. Shops and banks also closed as residents opted to stay home to avoid the violence.

The country's vice-president, Carlos Mesa, also demanded publicly that Sanchez de Lozada resign.

The marches in La Paz began peacefully on Monday, but clashes broke out when soldiers turned away demonstrators from the plaza where the presidential palace is located.

Clashes were also reported elsewhere in the city.

In Rio Seco neighbourhood, protesters set fire to a gas tank, killing a female bystander, witnesses said.

Radio stations urged soldiers and police to use restraint.

During weekend protests in El Alto, a city of 750 000 people, soldiers killed at least five demonstrators, according to witnesses. The government declared martial law, sending soldiers with automatic weapons to patrol the streets.

Residents and human rights groups say the number of victims is probably close to 20.

- AP