Tuesday Morning – Protests and a Presidential Address

On Monday thousands of protesters from El Alto (the much poorer sister city adjacent to La Paz) marched on the capital pressing three demands: nationalization of Bolivia’s gas; the resignation of President Carlos Mesa; and the closing of the Bolivian Congress. As they approached Plaza Murillo – the city’s political heart, home to both the Congress and the Presidential Palace – they were met with police blockades and tear gas. There were some minor injuries, according to press reports, but nothing on the scale of past government repression.

Monday’s actions to keep protesters away from the center of government reminded me of a conversation I had with Mesa when interviewing him for our IMF report. I asked Mesa, then the Vice-President, what one thing he would have done differently if he could live over the violent days of Febrero Negro (2003) when the army and a unit of the national police had a shooting war in that plaza. He told me that he would have militarized the plaza early to keep it from being taken by protesters. So Mesa is now true to his word.

Pressure against the President is building from all sides. In addition to the El Alto march on the capital another large march, led by Evo Morales, left yesterday from the midpoint between Cochabamba and La Paz, headed for the capital as well.

At 1pm this afternoon (equivalent to 1pm NY time) President Mesa will deliver a speech to the nation. Mesa is a fine speaker, a skill gleaned from years as a TV newscaster. But as the crisis mounts, style will mean very little. If Mesa isn’t willing to reverse course and back a gas law that challenges the oil companies and IMF I think his days as President may be limited.

I’ll write more news as we have it.