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Bolivia's President names new cabinet
La PAZ, Bolivia - Bolivia's new president swore in his Cabinet, making clear that the caretaker government would be brief as he seeks early elections to placate opposition demonstrators who recently crippled the country with strikes. In the brief ceremony late Tuesday, Eduardo Rodriguez named a new army commander-in-chief, Gen. Marcelo Antezana, a foreign minister, Armando Loayza, and dozens of ministers in what he called a national unity Cabinet. He urged the new government to help Bolivia move past the weeks of opposition strikes, oilfield takeovers and road blockades that toppled his predecessor last week. "Perhaps this team of men and woman may not satisfy everyone ... but each has manifested his commitment to public service and to the cause of democracy," said Rodriguez, who was named by Congress last Thursday to replace departing president Carlos Mesa when his government fell to opposition protests. Rodriguez, whose government was targeted by a peaceful opposition protest by some 7,000 street marchers earlier Tuesday in La Paz, reiterated his intention to call elections within five months. He said his aim was the "preservation of the democratic system and the conclusion of a free and transparent electoral process." The cabinet moves came after a day in which some 7,000 of Indians, labor activists and peasant farmers marched peacefully in renewed pressure for early elections. They also reiterated demands that Bolivia nationalize its oil industry as Congress reconvened for the first time since widespread violent protests forced a presidential upheaval last week. "The oil is ours!" and "early elections!" they chanted as secretaries and office workers scurried out of the path of the marchers while firecrackers exploded overhead. It was the first major protest rally since a grave political crisis ended last week and culminated on a plaza that was the scene of last week's clashes. The protest came as House and Senate lawmakers regrouped in separate chambers on procedural matters as they got back to work. In coming days, they are to begin examining opposition demands that forced the ouster of Mesa, a U.S.-backed free market ally who lasted 19 months in power. While Rodriguez is committed to early elections, demonstrators here said they wanted not just the president and vice president to be up for grabs as required by law, but also legislative and other local posts. "We want the government to call general elections and we want those elections to include the Senate, House deputies and other posts," said protester Ubaldo Aquino. Opposition leaders announced a truce last weekend to nearly a month of highway blockades that isolated major cities and triggered gas and food shortages in La Paz. But they warned a national blockade could be imposed later if demands go unmet. A nationwide opposition uproar by tens of thousands of Indians, miners, coca leaf farmers and labor activists began May 16 and forced Congress last Thursday to appoint Rodriguez, a 49-year-old Supreme Court justice as caretaker president until new elections.
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