President Resigns After Mass Protests!

Bolivian Carlos President Mesa, who had vowed to remain in office for his full term, resigned Monday night after mostly peaceful demonstrations which we have been following with great interest (and you can see previous posts here, here, here and here).

Here's the latest from the BBC: Bolivia leader quits amid unrest

Bolivian President Carlos Mesa has announced his resignation after mass protests demanding the nationalisation of energy and constitutional reform.

In a televised address late on Monday, Mr Mesa said he was stepping down because "this is as far as I can go".
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Congress could meet as early as Tuesday to decide whether it will accept Mr Mesa's resignation.
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Even if it accepts it, he says, that may not be enough to end the current crisis.
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In an emotional address, he accused the protestors of intransigence and of taking advantage of his promise not to use force against them.

On Sunday the president met Church leaders and politicians to discuss the possibility of a snap election.

Senate President Hormando Vaca Diez, who was at the meeting, said it was "an idea that is gaining momentum as a way out of the problem".

With all due respect to Senor Hormando Vaca Diez, I wonder ... Who owns the voting machines in Bolivia?

OK, cheap joke. They can't all be funny.

There's more on the Bolivian situation from the BBC piece that I've been cherry-picking so please have a look at that. The BBC also has a Q&A page where you can read more about the history and economics behind the current politics. I'll post updates here when I know more... and yeah, I've been waiting a long time to write that headline! ;-)