Bolivia will slide into civil war unless immediate elections are held, President Carlos Mesa has warned, a day after he offered to resign from office.
The main city La Paz has seen violent clashes between security forces and protesters calling for economic reform and more rights for indigenous people.
As with many countries in Latin America,the people have grown tired of neo-liberal globalization plans, aided and abetted by the US, which do nothing but impoverish them further, while making the tiny elite wealthier.