Thursday, August 14, 2008

Bolivia: Morales to meet rivals

Bolivian President Evo Morales and opposition regional governors agreed on Wednesday to meet to try to ease a bitter power struggle that has gripped the South American country all year, Reuters reported.

The announcement followed a weekend recall vote in which both Morales and his biggest rightist rivals were confirmed in their jobs, a result some political analysts said would only serve to deepen their standoff.

Governors in four of Bolivia's nine regions want more autonomy and a greater share of the country's booming energy revenues. They are demanding that Morales scrap a plan to redistribute farmland among the poor.

Opponents of Morales, a close ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, are also unhappy with a new draft constitution that Morales wants to implement against their will.

"We're going with an open mind, to give Bolivia a respite, with the aim of solving the contradictions that have been mirrored in the recall vote, through dialogue," the governor of the natural gas-producing Tarija region, Mario Cossio, told reporters.

Morales won Sunday's recall with more than 67 percent support, official results showed after counting was completed at 94 percent of the polling stations.

The governors of Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Tarija also achieved sweeping victories in the vote, according to the latest official results.

Along with the opposition governor of Chuquisaca -- who did not face the recall -- they were due to meet Morales in La Paz later on Wednesday.

Republished permission FOCUS News Agency
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Published by Mike Hitchen, Mike Hitchen Consulting