From the
New York Times (free sub required).
Bolivia's New Leader Takes Over a Chaotic and Angry Nation
By LARRY ROHTER
Published: October 19, 2003
LA PAZ, Bolivia, Oct. 18 — One of the books that Carlos Mesa wrote when he was a historian is titled "Bolivian Presidents: Between the Voting Booth and the Gun." Mr. Mesa is about to experience that situation himself.
Mr. Mesa was sworn in as president of South America's poorest and most unstable country late Friday night, following the resignation of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, who immediately left for the United States. The country has been paralyzed since mid-September by antigovernment protests that Mr. Sánchez de Lozada had tried to quell with force, leaving more than 80 dead.
"Few times has the nation confronted a moment like this," Mr. Mesa, 50, most recently a television journalist highly regarded for his ability to communicate, said after being sworn in. "Give us some space, some time to work," he pleaded.
But his practical political experience is limited. He belongs to no political party and had never held public office until Mr. Sánchez de Lozada, looking for someone to bring an image of independence and probity to a seamy environment, asked him to be his running mate.
Mr. Mesa tried to make a virtue of that deficiency in his inaugural address on Friday, vowing to lead a government that would be above partisan politics. But in his 15 months as vice president, he seemed to clash with old-style political leaders, including his patron, as often as he was able to compromise with them.
During the speech, Mr. Mesa also reiterated several of the concessions that Mr. Sánchez de Lozada had offered this week in a last-ditch effort to remain in power. But legal experts immediately cautioned that the measures were either not constitutional, as in the case of a binding referendum on natural gas exports, or lacking proper guidelines, as in the case of a constituent assembly.
It was also not clear how the indigenous and opposition groups that have been energized by their success in toppling the government would respond to Mr. Mesa's call for national unity. Evo Morales, leader of the Movement Toward Socialism and runner-up in last year's election, took a wait-and-see stance, though some of the coca growers whom he nominally leads vowed to continue with blockades of roads.
"I think it is important to give him a grace period," Mr. Morales told a television network. "He has expressed the thoughts of the Bolivian people" in the inaugural address, Mr. Morales added, so "let's hope that he organizes his cabinet and representatives" accordingly.
In contrast, the country's other powerful indigenous leader, Felipe Quispe, indicated that he would offer no truce at all. As the leader of the federation that initiated the nationwide strike that brought Mr. Sánchez de Lozada down, Mr. Quispe continued to demand that the government meet all 72 of his group's demands and added a new one: that Mr. Mesa not serve out the remainder of his original five-year term but call new elections as soon as possible.
Mr. Mesa agreed to that demand in his inaugural speech, but Mr. Quispe said, "In any case, we are going to continue with the blockades." He added, "We are not going to be with the executive, we are always going to be opposition."
Saturday at least, there were few signs of the recent unrest. Nevertheless, "there is still a lot of rage in Bolivians, which could lead to even more deaths," warned Carlos Toranzo of the Latin American Institute for Research here. The experience of the last month "has produced a lot of radicalism in some people, who want vengeance."
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