Indigenous and Labor Movements Toppling Government in Bolivia

There have been days of protests in Bolivia, lead by miners and indigenous groups who are protesting the free market policies of President Carlos Mesa. Even as the police have tried to disperse the protesters -- with tear gas and rubber bullets -- Mesa has offered his resignation, and the Bolivian Congress is expected to accept it.

One of the opposition leaders calling for new elections, Evo Morales, is a congressman in the party of Movement Toward Socialism. An Aymara Indian, Morales got his start in politics leading coca farmers protesting coca-eradication in the US War on Drugs. He and other opposition leaders are seeking nationalization of Bolivia's expanding energy industries.

Mesa is expected to be replaced by the President of the Supreme Court, Eduardo Rodríguez, who is politically popular and who has said he will only take the office as long as is necessary to hold elections.