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Bolivia's prez open to autonomy for eastern states
President Evo Morales offered Friday to include eastern provinces' autonomy demands in his proposed new constitution, raising hopes for a solution to Bolivia's bloody political crisis.But the leftist leader and his adversaries in the conservative lowlands have been battling over greater local self-rule since Morales took office in 2006, and it is far from clear whether the president's offer will lead to an agreement. On Friday, the two sides discussed the autonomy question _ a hot-button issue in Bolivia, whose feeble but heavily centralized government struggles to contain the country's deep racial, cultural and geographical divides. Morales _ riding high after winning 67 percent support in last month's recall election, including surprising gains in the traditionally hostile lowland east _ is now pushing for a national vote to approve a new constitution granting greater power to Bolivia's long-oppressed indigenous majority. "Who knows, maybe it's a problem, maybe it's a crime to work on behalf of the forgotten," Morales said during a brief visit to Panama. "But that's the most important thing _ these transformations of democracy." Opposition leaders, meanwhile, note that Morales lost in three of four lowland provinces and say voters there back demands for regional autonomy left out of the draft constitution. Posted by: Fred 2008-09-20 |
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