The Bolivian Earthquake Continues
June 9, 2005
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Narco News swarm coverage of Bolivia is now in full effect. Up-to-the-minute reports are coming in every hour with the
most complete coverage anywhere of the Bolivian crisis - the "earthquake" as Luis Gómez calls it in his latest report in
the Narcosphere. The entire Narco News team, including Irene Roca Cruz, Manuela Aldabe, Alex Contreras, Gissel Gonzales,
Jean Friedsky, Luis Gomez, and Al Giordano, are working round the clock as long as these historic events take to play
themselves out. We are also translating breaking developments from the Spanish language media that can't be found
anywhere else in English.
In a report posted just minutes ago, Luis Gómez writes that, once again, prospects are doubtful that the Congress will
pull it together and meet by the end of today, as planned. The meeting was to approve President Mesa's resignation and
finally break the suspense over whether unpopular Senate President Hormando Vaca Diez, next in line for the presidency,
would accept the office. Gómez also reports:
"All the country's social leaders say the same thing: that Vaca Diez and Mario Cossío (President of the Chamber of
Deputies, Bolivia's lower house of Congress) must go, that new elections must be called. The mayors of the cities of La
Paz, Cochabamba, Potosí and Sucre, together with the representatives of a few organizations, have begun a hunger strike
to demand the same.
"The Armed Forces have set their position with respect to the constitution, and asked that a solution to the crisis be
found. They now await orders, from whoever ends up as president, to 'pacify the country.' On the one hand, this sounds
like a threat (both to the social movements and the seditious right wing in Santa Cruz), but on the other, at least as
the high military command expressed it, it leaves one thing clear: the military is not with anyone, and will follow
orders no matter who is in charge of the government."
Gómez's entire report can be found here:
And don't forget to keep checking the Narcosphere for updates:
From somewhere in a country called América,
Dan Feder
Managing Editor
The Narco News Bulletin