Bolivia's besieged president seeks early elections
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-16 15:01

Bolivian President Carlos Mesa, besieged by street protests that have paralyzed the country, said on Tuesday he would ask Congress to call early elections in August to replace him.

"This is the only way to prevent a bloodbath," Mesa said in a televised address, his jaw clenched in anger. "They have tied my hands in every way to keep me from going forward. We've done everything we can."

File photo of Bolivian President Carlos Mesa speaking at a ceremony in Puerto Suarez on the border with Brazil, on March 14, 2005. Mesa, besieged by street protests that have paralyzed the country, said he would ask Congress to call early elections in August to replace him.[Reuters]

Bolivia has been plagued for weeks by highway blockades set up by Indian protesters opposed to Mesa's economic policies. The roadblocks have caused food shortages in major cities and cost businesses millions of dollars a day.

Elections had previously been scheduled for June 2007. Mesa is forbidden by law from running, legal analysts say.

Mesa also said he would withdraw an energy sector reform bill that has been the main cause of the protests. The bill would have encouraged more foreign investment in Bolivia's vast natural gas reserves.

Mesa had threatened to resign last week, then changed his mind after Congress vowed to support the energy bill. However, he accused Congress on Tuesday of breaking its promise and said he could no longer continue in office.

The president remains popular, with an approval rating above 60 percent, but has refused to use force to dismantle the blockades. His predecessor, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, quit in 2003 after a similar revolt killed dozens.

"Bolivia is on the path toward collective suicide," Mesa said. "Some people are urging me to confront Bolivians against Bolivians and use violence, but I will not do so."

"I can no longer govern like this," he said.

Protesters against Mesa's energy bill had feared that foreign companies would loot Bolivia's natural wealth with no benefit for the poor majority. Despite massive finds of gold, silver, oil and gas over the centuries, Bolivia is still South America's poorest country.

Energy protests became a rallying cry for a long list of grievances including anti-U.S. sentiment and racial tensions between the poor indigenous majority and the largely white, European-descended elite.

The highway blockades grew in number on Tuesday, and have essentially cut the country in half. Exporters in the rich, agricultural east have been unable to get their goods to port and as many as 1,500 trucks are stranded on jungle roads.

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