Lawmakers unanimously rejected Bolivia’s President Carlos Mesa’s March 7, 2005 threat to resign. Thousands of Mesa supporters gathered in La Paz’s main square, waving the national flag, and cheering his name well into the night, as Congress decided how to proceed. The Congressional approval slyly gives Mesa much needed support to deal with increasing lawlessness and street violence by indigenous groups over his austerity measures that prompted his offer to resign in the first place. Said Mesa, “We have been given a new opportunity. The country is clamoring for us to work together?I want Bolivians to support their president.”

This tense situation is not the first for Mesa’s administration. He has only barely kept control since his inauguration in October 2003, when street riots left 58 people dead. His main opposition is the marginalized, indigenous Indian majority that feels slighted and taken advantage of by corporate and political greed. He has faced off with his main opposition, Evo Morales, an Indian congressman and activist, who regularly supports his party, the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), in erecting road blockades in a protest effort to raise taxes on foreign enterprises in Bolivia. The MAS has called for continued blockades and demonstrations this week. Since 2003, he has faced numerous street protests, typically calling for autonomy for Santa Cruz (WAR Report) and for action against a French-owned water utility firm in La Paz/El Alto and attempts to privatize public utilities. The street protests seem to have subsided, for now, in support of Mesa’s efforts. And, neighboring states have pushed Bolivia to seek democratic solutions to help stabilize the country.