Bolivia's President Mesa submits resignation

[arcos]

Jun 6, 2005 — LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Bolivian President Carlos Mesa said on Monday he had submitted his resignation after weeks of crippling protests by indigenous leaders demanding that he nationalize the country's energy resources.

"It is my responsibility to say that this is as far as it can go. I have taken the decision to present my resignation from the presidency," Mesa said in a late-night television broadcast. (Reporting by Patrick Markey in La Paz, Bolivia)

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=825634

[Jack Rabbit]

1. Is this for real this time?

Mesa tried to resign before, but it was just to attempt to gain some leverage.

Can we have a real popular leader assume power in Bolivia now?

[Up2Late]

2. How much you want to bet * tries to take credit for this?

:evilfrown:

[Jack Rabbit]

3. I don't think he'd want ot take credit for this

.

[Robbien]

4. Don't know this is a good thing

Luis Gomez at Narcosphere says

Senator Vaca Diez, president of the National Congress and one of the main representatives of the coup-plotting right wing, would take power in Bolivia. He is ready. According to a source in the Armed Forces, the Bolivian military will not put down the protesters until Mesa resigns… but it seems that military leaders have reached an agreement with Vaca Diez to declare a state of siege today…

Such is the situation in the first few hours of the afternoon… nothing is certain, nothing confirmed, but we are sure of one thing: the people are determined, and it doesn’t seem that Mesa’s eventual resignation or a call to a Constituent Assembly (especially if Vaca Diez takes power) will hold them back… stay here, kind readers, because history is once again being written in the Bolivian streets.

Hopefully after all this trouble Bolivia doesn't end up with a BushCo puppet.

[Jack Rabbit]

6. That would be a grave turn of events

In that, one might see the fingerprints of the Bush regime.

[MisterP]

7. it shoulda been Toledo

[mom cat]

13. Thank you for the information!

[Supersedeas]

15. stepping down so right wing hard-liners can step up, step in and step on

[Jack Rabbit]

5. Here's the BBC Link that will keep us well-informed

From the BBC Online
Dated Tuesday June 7 02:29 GMT (Monday 7:29 pm PDT)

Bolivia leader quits amid unrest

Bolivian President Carlos Mesa has announced his resignation after mass protests demanding the nationalisation of energy and constitutional reform.

The news is breaking right now but the link will automatically update.

[Roland99]

9. They better be careful down there or Negroponte will go postal on them

again.

[Jack Rabbit]

14. The BBC headline now reads "Bolivian president offers to quit"

From the BBC Online
Dated Tuesday June 7 05:26 GMT (Monday 10:26 pm PDT)

Bolivian president offers to quit

Bolivian President Carlos Mesa has offered to resign amid mass protests demanding the nationalisation of energy and a reform of the constitution.

"This is as far as I can go," he said in a televised address.

Indigenous and left-wing groups have held daily demonstrations in Bolivia's main city, La Paz, for weeks, and a blockade has led to shortages.

Mr Mesa has offered to quit before but was rejected by Congress. It is unclear whether his resignation will be agreed.

This isn't the first time Mesa has "offered" to resign".

Tune in later.

[snot]

21. If you appreciate the BBC as we've known it, PLS go to this link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=376080&mesg_id=376080

[Robbien]

8. Israel airlifted out 24 Israeli backpackers from Bolivia today

Appears there is no way in or out of Bolivia except by helicopter since the airport is closed. Roads are also closed.

There are another 140 backpackers to be airlifted out tommorrow.

[Robbien]

10. NarcoSphere has an update

Far from marking an end to this battle, Mesa's resignation will only initiate a new chapter. Should Mesa's resignation be accepted, the right-wing President of the Senate Hormando Vaca Diez will assume power. This would further inflame the already enraged protesters that have been marching and shutting down the nation for the past two weeks. However Santa Cruz and the Bolivian elite will do what they can to maintain the power that could be coming their way. And, clearly, Mesa's resignation does nothing to change the status of Bolivia's gas reserves, nor does it address the proposals of a Constitutional Assembly or a referendum on Autonomy. All it does is open up more questions.

It comes as no surprise that Mesa made his speech tonight. The volume and intensity of protest and police response today demonstrated that this lucha (struggle) was reaching a breaking point in which something needed to happen. Whether that was a military coup, a resignation from Mesa or the initiation of a military/civil government, we didn't know. Now, we have the first concrete action taken by the governmetnt. What remains to be seen is what the people do in response... Stay tuned, (as my esteemed colleague Luis Gomez likes to say), kind readers. It's about to get interesting...

and a funny add-on post

As Luis Gómez, Jean Friedsky, and the rest of the Narco News team is on the ground in Bolivia (the first to report that the country's president might resign, and to report that he did resign today), New York Timesman Juan Forero - responsible for watching Bolivia - stayed at home in his office in the Colombian capital.

His report of tonight provides a strong hint that he knows he dropped the ball: The byline says only "By The New York Times."

Sorry Juanito. With your inflated budget and the amount of lead time you had to be there to report the big story, you blew it again.

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/6/6/223313/0055

[Karenina]

11. Kick!

:kick:

[Judi Lynn]

12. Forero is probably afraid someone familiar with his work

might recognize him in the streets! I would have thought the N.Y.Times would have asked him to peddle his pro-rightwing crap elsewhere by now. They already lost one self-confessed rigidly anti-Chavez writer already. They should also ask Forero to leave. He's an embarrassment. Probably also a recipient of great piles of "long green" from some bogus organization operating for NED.

[Jack Rabbit]

16. BBC (late Tuesday): Offer fails to end Bolivia crisis

From the BBC Online
Dated Tesday June 7 23:36 GMT (4:36 pm PDT)

Offer fails to end Bolivia crisis

Anti-government demonstrators have fought running battles with police in Bolivia's main city, La Paz, despite the president's offer to resign.

Indigenous peasant farmers and labour activists played cat and mouse with the security forces, trading dynamite charges with police firing tear gas.

La Paz is cut off from the rest of the country as protesters demand energy nationalisation and political reforms.

Parliament has still to decide on a successor for President Carlos Mesa.

Read more



Photo from the BBC

[burrowowl]

17. Really!

I'm surprised.
Long Live the Protesters!

[Jack Rabbit]

18. ¡Viva la gente!

¡!

[Jack Rabbit]

19. Elliott Gotkine (BBC, Tuesday): Bolivia's future hangs in the balance

From the BBC Online
Dated Tuesday June 7

Bolivia's future hangs in the balance
By Elliott Gotkine
BBC South America correspondent, La Paz

Like a doting father forced to disown an unruly child, Bolivian President Carlos Mesa announced the inevitable live on television on Monday evening.

"I'm really sorry if I've been incapable of governing Bolivia well," he said, looking earnestly into the camera.

"I truly regret that it's come to this... If I'm partly to blame, then I assume my responsibilities, and that's why I'm putting my position at (Congress's) disposal, so that I don't become an obstacle (to ending the crisis)" . . . .

His announcement was not especially surprising. It came just hours after La Paz had witnessed the biggest demonstrations in Mr Mesa's presidency.

Read more.

[NuttyFluffers]

20. or he could've nationalized the reserves like he was told?

:eyes:

it will continue until the people get what they, it seems. why offer resignation when you could end the protests? wasting time.