MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fragile truce in Bolivia but with no solution on sight

Governor Manfred Reyes Villa

A fragile truce between supporters and opponents of Bolivian president Evo Morales helped restore some normality to the city of Cochabamba, in central Bolivia, where four days of rioting left two dead and over a hundred injured.

A tense peace gradually returned when the governor of Cochabamba Manfred Reyes Villa agreed to scrap a referendum on the region's autonomy, which was rejected point blank by the Morales administration and triggered the violence and rioting in the city. Reyes Villa was forced to abandon the city when an estimated 20.000 followers of Morales, mostly peasants who live from planting coke, took the heart of the city and threatened to take the government's properties and hang the governor if he didn't give up his elected job. But in spite of Reyes Villa back stepping, the peasants who make up the core of president Morales support returned to Cochabamba and camped in the main square warning that the truce was extensive to the "whole city, but not to the governor", whom they blame for the killings and his "attempt to divide Bolivia". From Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia's main autonomist bastion and where Reyes Villa took refuge to avoid been mobbed and to seek the Church's mediation, the governor of Cochabamba said he was ready for the "recall referendum" with which President Morales threatened him if he insisted with his demands for more autonomy. "I've decided to side step the autonomy referendum but I'm prepared to let the people of Cochabamba decide on a recall referendum for my office, as was proponed by President Morales", said Reyes Villa. The governor said he would not be returning to Cochabamba since "there are no guarantees" for his family in spite of the fact he's a popular elected politician in the region, where President Morales also has a significant backing. So the outcome of the referendum could be anybody's guess according to the Bolivian press. However Reyes Villa also warned that his resignation, as demanded by the coke peasants, would have a domino effect for the other five governors who disagree with President Morales policies and could end eroding Bolivian democracy. Reyes Villa received the support from the five governors (out of the nine Bolivia has) who also threatened with resigning if their colleague is forced out of office by non democratic methods or simply mobbed out. "This could also endanger President Morales presidency", added the five governors. "If I don't resign the coke planting peasants will be furious and if I do, the people of Cochabamba will take the streets to fight those who want to attack democracy", said Reyes Villa. In Santa Cruz citizens are organizing marches for this week in protest against the administration of president Morales and in support of Cochabamba's governor. A peasant and a university student died during the street clashes between coke sector protestors and middle class supporters of Governor Reyes Villa. Bolivian police reported that contrary to what was announced by coke farmers, several of the country's highways remain blocked by protestors. Bolivia's richest provinces which hold most of the country's abundant hydrocarbons reserves and agriculture, strongly support open market policies and are against the Morales administration nationalization plans and land distribution projects. The discrepancy has given renewed life to strong autonomic sentiments in those provinces.