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17.10.03, 00:03
Marchers Enter Bolivian Capital, Demand Leader Quit
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By Alistair Scrutton
LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of poor indigenous Bolivians
marched into the capital on Thursday as their leaders rejected President
Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada's bid to defuse a deadly revolt, vowing to protest
until the "butcher" quit.
Reuters Photo
In the biggest march during a month of protests in South America's poorest
country, a colorful column of demonstrators snaked downhill from the
outskirts of La Paz, exploding small dynamite sticks and chanting that the
president was a "murderer."
Indian leaders, angered at deaths of an estimated 74 people in the last
month, said the president's offer to change some of his hated U.S.-backed,
free-market policies was too little, too late. His support within the
government also seemed to be eroding.
There were only sporadic clashes between protesters with slingshots and
troops with tear gas who have set up a ring around the nearby presidential
palace in the world's highest capital.
Marchers, including old indigenous women in their traditional bowler hats and
farmers wielding sticks, waved the multicolored flag of the Incas as they
marched past boarded-up banks and shops in the paralyzed the city center.
"The only thing the people want is this butcher's resignation," indigenous
leader Felipe Quispe told local radio.
In Bolivia's worst crisis in over 20 years of democracy, mostly indigenous
protesters are furious with endemic poverty and inequality.
A U.S.-led effort to eradicate coca plantations and an unpopular plan to
export natural gas sparked the unrest in the landlocked nation of 8 million,
mainly indigenous, people.
Sanchez de Lozada said on Thursday, "I cannot quit because it would mean the
end of democracy in Bolivia, and probably the disintegration of the country."
But he appeared to lose the support of his vice president, Carlos Mesa, a man
whom some Indian leaders approve of as a possible replacement for the
president.
Mesa, a respected journalist, told local TV, "I remain firm as vice
president ... (but) I will not serve as an instrument for the polarization of
Bolivian society."
U.S. Ambassador David Greenlee told Reuters TV, "We support constitutional
government ... (Sanchez de Lozada) should be respected as president."
CAPITAL PARALYZED
In some parts of La Paz, which is about 11,900 feet above sea level, police
stepped in to calm restless crowds jostling for scarce supplies like bread.
The blockade of the capital gradually made some basic food scarce, nearly
tripling the price of eggs.
Blocks away from the protests, streets were empty except for some pedestrians
and a few nervous taxi drivers who were hissed at by people trying to bring
the city to a virtual standstill.
"This protest is bad for all of us but Goni (the president) must go," said
Sonia Mendoza, a pharmacist who said she was running short on basic
medicines. She walked one hour from her house to work behind closed shutters.
She had nothing for breakfast. For lunch she planned a soup, for dinner just
a cup of tea.
The Permanent Assembly of Human Rights, Bolivia's main human rights group,
raised the cumulative death toll estimate from 55 to 74 people on Thursday
and said 198 others have been injured, the group's director, Waldo
Albarracin, told Reuters.
The president promised on Wednesday a referendum on the gas project, a reform
of energy laws and constitutional changes, key demands of the opposition.
But time for talking has ended for many Bolivian, furious at the deaths of
Indian miners and farmers shot by troops and police. Some children scream at
the sight of armed police on motorcycles speeding through their neighborhoods
on patrol.
Protests have gathered momentum and spread throughout the country. Central
Obrera Boliviana, a major union, said thousands of its women would go on
hunger strike in Roman Catholic churches. Men would dig holes in roads across
Bolivia to widen blockades that have paralyzed the economy.
In La Paz, some 70 people, including intellectuals and rights activists, are
on hunger strikes.
