Demonstrations resume in Bolivia after one-day break

Professors, trade unions and demonstrators in general resumed Friday in Bolivia their demonstrations against President Carlos Mesa after a one-day break.

Tens of professors, in strike since last Monday, blocked Friday with rocks the highway linking the cities of El Alto and La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia.

According to news from La Paz, the demonstrators threw stones onto a toll station and attacked its employees.

Different sectors opposing the Mesa administration demand the nationalization of gas and oil resources which are controlled by multinational firms and the realization of a Constitutional Assembly.

On Thursday the demonstrators gave a one-day break for Mesa, on the occasion of the celebration of the Catholic celebration of Corpus Christi.

Chief of the police department of La Paz Hernan Jaimes said the land communication to and from the city is possible only through two routes which have not been blocked yet by demonstrators.

The authorities have been seeking contacts with social leaders for an agreement to end the persistent anti-governmental demonstrations, which might lead to the fall of the president.

On Wednesday, two military officers issued a statement demanding the resignation of Mesa, but the statement is rejected by the armed forces of Bolivia.

Source: Xinhua