Bolivian President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, under pressure to quit amid Indian protests, appeared more isolated yesterday after he failed to appease street protests and his vice president further distanced himself from the government.
Poor Indians, blaming Sanchez de Lozada for the deaths of an estimated 74 people in a month of protests, took to the streets on Thursday to reject the president's attempt to win over foes by watering down his hated free-market policies.
It was the biggest march since the protests began. Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched on La Paz, exploding dynamite sticks.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on some protesters who tried to approach the government palace.
Sanchez de Lozada, a 73-year-old US-educated businessman and one of the wealthiest people in the country, is disliked by millions of Bolivians who see him as a "gringo" out of touch with the needs of South America's poorest country.
A US-led effort to eradicate coca plantations and an unpopular plan to export natural gas sparked the unrest in the landlocked nation of 8 million, mainly indigenous, people.
For many Bolivians the question is not if the president will leave office but when and how he will go -- either by quitting, by a coup or through street riots.
Most analysts say it is nearly impossible he will finish his term in 2007.
Facing Bolivia's worst crisis in over 20 years of democracy, the president has infuriated Indian leaders by calling protesters "terrorists," "narcos" and "anarchists." They, in turn, label him as a "murderer" and "thief."
Vice President Carlos Mesa, who earlier this week distanced himself from the government, appeared on TV on Thursday to effectively stamp himself a political independent by saying he did not want to be part of "the polarization of Bolivian society."
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