Bolivia City Joins Anti-Government Rally

[bemildred]

LA PAZ, Bolivia - A strike by workers and a demonstration that drew hundreds of thousands of people paralyzed Santa Cruz on Tuesday as Bolivia's largest city joined an anti-government protest that has elicited a pledge from the president to resign if things turn violent.

The protest in Santa Cruz, a city of over one million people, was against gasoline price increases, and added to demonstrations launched Monday in the neighboring city of El Alto. Santa Cruz is about 470 miles southeast of La Paz.

Strike organizers in El Alto have demanded the government drop gasoline price hikes ranging from 10 to 23 percent. On Tuesday, the government agreed to one key demand made by the El Alto protesters by canceling the contract with the French-controlled utility that operates the city's water system.

Strike organizers claimed the water utility, controlled by Lyonnaise des Eaux of France, charges city dwellers excessive rates, and has failed to extend service to poor neighborhoods since it started operating in Bolivia en 1997. .

Yahoo

[MisterP]

resistance is planned for in IMF & WB privatization plans; the next phase

is "resolve," or gunning down Indians in the streets

[bemildred]

2. They already tried that last year.

They lost.

[MisterP]

1. duplicate (a lot today, it seems)