The governor of Bolivia's wealthiest province called on residents to turn out en masse yesterday to retake the region's main airport from military troops, after talks toward ending the tense standoff broke down.
The fight for control of Santa Cruz's Viru Viru airport, the nation's busiest, arose from a dispute over the collection of plane landing fees but rapidly grew into a flashpoint between Bolivia's federal government and a region chafing for greater autonomy.
The standoff began on Thursday when 220 soldiers seized the airport in an operation that left two soldiers injured -- one by gunfire.
PHOTO: AP
Later in the day, several hundred Santa Cruz residents tried to crash through the facility's gates, many shouting: "The airport belongs to Santa Cruz!"
They were repelled by volleys of tear gas fired by military police from behind the gates.
Hundreds of protesters planned an overnight vigil at the gates of Viru Viru, facing off with hundreds of military police. Troops also controlled a nearby municipal airport, El Trompilio.
"We need 20,000 to 50,000 people tomorrow [Friday] at the airport," Santa Cruz Governor Ruben Costas said late Thursday. "I'm the one who's going to give orders. I am your only commander."
In a televised message, President Evo Morales said he had ordered the intervention to keep the airport from losing its good name after workers detained a Miami-bound American Airlines plane carrying 140 passengers on the runway on Tuesday.
The workers were demanding the airline pay landing fees of up to US$2,000 in cash locally, rather than deposit the fees with the federal airport authority.
"Preserving the good image of the airports is an obligation," Morales said. "Viru Viru was doing poorly, making illegal charges."
He said many Bolivians were stranded outside the country by the crisis, including Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca, who was traveling in Europe.
Attempts to reach a settlement between the government and Santa Cruz civic groups broke down on Thursday night.
The airport conflict took on broader political implications because Santa Cruz, the nation's largest and wealthiest province, has resisted moves by Morales' leftist government to nationalize industries and redistribute land and wealth to the country's poor majority.
Santa Cruz is home to soy plantations and cattle ranches and the province's relatively wealthy residents feel targeted by government plans to seize land judged idle or fraudulently obtained for redistribution.
Santa Cruz is also the center of Bolivia's energy industry, and some worry about foreign investment now that Morales has forced international companies to increase royalty payments. Its leaders want autonomy from La Paz and a bigger share of their state's natural gas revenues, but Morales needs the cash for desperately poor highland states.
The divide between the regions is so wide they even dispute whether La Paz or Sucre should be Bolivia's capital. Both are currently capitals.
Since it became one of the first agencies in Santa Cruz to win autonomy from the federal government in the early 1990s, the local airport authority had traditionally nominated three people to lead it, one of whom was chosen by the government.
Three months ago, federal officials installed their own pick to head the agency, exacerbating fears it intends to interfere in the province's institutions.
The airport "has been stolen by the government using army troops," protester Omar Mustafa said.
But the federal government insisted it would not back down.
The government wants Viru Viru workers, who number about 100, to return to their jobs. But officials say the airport will be run by the federal government for about 90 days while the local airport agency is audited.
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