Calls Grow For Bolivian President's Resignation Amid Riots

CALLS GROW FOR BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT'S RESIGNATION AMID RIOTS

LA PAZ, Bolivia - Tanks formed an iron curtain in front of Bolivia's
presidential palace Thursday as a second day of violent protests swept the
Andean nation and calls grew for President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada to resign.

The death toll climbed to at least 20 on Thursday as scattered violence and
looting continued across the country. A clash between police and soldiers,
who have feuded for decades, sparked the clash, which was joined by
citizens angry over an unpopular income tax.

On Thursday, authorities met union-led anti-government demonstrations in
the capital city of La Paz with bullets and tear gas. Bolivian media
reports said at least two looters were shot to death and 12 others were
injured, some gravely.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer responded with a prepared statement,
saying President Bush was "deeply concerned" about violence in Bolivia and
reaffirming the administration's "strong support" for Sanchez de Lozada and
his government.

Sanchez de Lozada, 72, known by his nickname, Goni, said through his
spokesman and cabinet chief that he would not resign.

Unions, indigenous groups and political opponents Thursday launched what
they promised would be nationwide highway blockages and other protests
aimed at toppling the pro-U.S. government that took office in August.

Leading the opposition effort is Evo Morales, who came close to winning the
presidency last year and whose Movement to Socialism Party now controls
about a third of Bolivia's congress.

Morales champions poor, mostly indigenous farmers who grow coca, the plant
from which cocaine is made. In a heated address to demonstrators in La
Paz's Plaza de San Francisco on Thursday, Morales called for civil unrest.

"We will not allow these deaths to go unpunished. ... We seek the
resignation of the president of the republic," Morales told thousands of
cheering followers.

Morales' supporters and government opponents then tried to storm the Plaza
Murillo in front of the presidential palace, but soldiers repelled them. On
Wednesday, students stoned the presidential palace while police, who were
on strike, stood by and did nothing. Soldiers then fired on students and
police. Police stayed out of the fray on Thursday after the government
agreed to raise their pay.

Bolivian media reports said Thursday the rioting and looting had the
appearance of being staged. At least one foreign bank was attacked, and the
ministry for sustainable development was set afire. That low-profile
ministry works with the U.S. Agency for International Development to create
alternative crops to coca in central and southern Bolivia.

Morales supports Bolivians who want an end to forced eradication of coca in
the Chapare, a New Jersey-sized swath of tropical Bolivia where coca is not
native but was brought in by drug traffickers for cultivation. Campaigning
for president last year, Morales promised to eject the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration from Bolivia if elected and to allow coca to be
grown freely. Bolivia's crackdown on illicit coca is believed to have taken
more than $200 million annually out of the economy of South America's
poorest nation.

Bolivia has been racked with sporadic violent protests for several years,
as the poor majority grows increasingly frustrated with an open economy
that has brought them few new opportunities. Forced eradication of coca
takes away one of the few cash crops for farmers.

The tax that drove people onto the streets, and was withdrawn by the
president in a bid for calm, affected anyone who made two times more than
the monthly minimum wage of $58.

The U.S. Embassy in La Paz, as of much of Bolivia's capital, was closed
Thursday. U.S. Marines guarded against possible attacks. Embassy officials
confirmed reports that marchers threatened to attack the fortified building
but apparently dispersed without incident.

The vice president's office was also attacked and set ablaze during the
Wednesday rioting. It houses the national archive, and documents dating
back to the arrival of Spanish conquistadors are feared lost.

Firefighters were still trying to put out the fire late Thursday.

(Bolivar reported from La Paz, Hall from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.)