Government, opposition resume talks in Bolivia
Posted: 15 September 2008 0806 hrs

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	Related News • US envoy expelled in name of "people's struggle" • Morales slaps state of emergency on Bolivian region • Bolivian President Morales calls for talks, rules out armed clampdown on protesters

LA PAZ: The government of President Evo Morales resumed long-delayed talks Sunday with opposition leaders, after days of violent unrest led him to declare martial law in one rebel Bolivian state.

Bolivia's government and the rebel governors have all called for dialogue, and each side has blamed each other for the fighting, amid a deepening political crisis that saw the US ambassador expelled.

US envoy Philip Goldberg's departure was the latest development in the turmoil gripping Bolivia, in a diplomatic spat that has grown to include other Latin American nations.

Bolivia can expect "serious consequences" for starting a diplomatic row with the United States, the US ambassador to the country said as he was being booted out.

Goldberg told reporters in La Paz that President Evo Morales had "not correctly evaluated" the retaliation Washington would give to a decision declaring him persona non grata.

He highlighted US efforts to stamp out cocaine production in Bolivia, which receives US$100 million a year in US aid to that end, and flatly denied Morales's accusations he had been encouraging the division of Bolivia by backing opposition figures.

Since Tuesday, street violence has erupted as pro- and anti-government protesters have clashed in the eastern half of the poor South American nation.

At least 18 people have died and around 100 have been hurt, according to officials. Some media reports put the death toll as high as 29.

The worst violence was in the north of the country, in the state of Pando - one of five regions whose governors are defying Morales's socialist reforms and demanding autonomy.

Soldiers sent to Pando's main city of Cobija were hunting the state governor to arrest him for publicly rejecting the imposition of martial law Morales ordered on the territory.

The government has accused the governor, Leopoldo Fernandez, of being responsible for the "massacre" of 16 people - mostly rural workers supporting Morales - whose bodies were discovered in past days.

Another two people, a soldier and a civilian, died Friday when 100 troops were flown in to seize back control of Cobija airport from protesters.

Vice President Alvaro Garcia said late Sunday that the talks with a representative from one of five rebel states were being held at the presidential palace.

But, despite an earlier announcement by anti-government leaders in Santa Cruz that roadblocks and protests in that state would cease as a gesture of “goodwill," the prospect of finding a negotiated solution looked distant.

On Saturday, Morales accused the governors of Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, Tarija and Chuquisaca of "plotting a fascist, racist coup" against him and said of his reforms: "If we don't emerge victorious, we have to die for the country and the Bolivian people."

Ruben Costas, the governor Santa Cruz who has emerged as the chief opponent to Morales, warned: "If there is just one more death or person wounded, any possibility of dialogue will be broken."

The political confrontation splitting Bolivia has taken on a racial tinge, with the indigenous majority mostly living in the Andes mountains to the west supporting Morales, an Aymara Indian, and the white or mixed population dominating the plains to the east rejecting him.

The strife briefly interrupted natural gas supplies to Brazil and Argentina.

It has also taken on an international dimension reaching further afield, with several leftwing Latin American nations stepping up to show solidarity with the beleaguered Morales.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered out the US ambassador in Caracas.

Honduras President Manuel Zelaya has refused to accept the credentials of a new US ambassador to his country, and on Saturday Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortego announced he would snub a planned Central American summit to be attended by US President George W. Bush.

Washington has responded by expelling Bolivia and Venezuela's envoys.

Separately, the Union of South American Nations has called an extraordinary session for Monday in Chile to discuss the Bolivian crisis.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has voiced support for Morales, said that meeting would only be meaningful if the Bolivian government and opposition were consulted.

"If we take a decision and neither of the parties respects it, the meeting will be useless," he said.

- AFP/yb