Two people have died in Bolivia after separate demonstrations involving miners demanding pension reforms and protests against the president, Evo Morales, erupted in the country on Tuesday [AFP]
Published On 6 Aug 20086 Aug 2008
In Tarija, southern Bolivia, police fired tear gas at around 250 anti-Morales protesters in front of the city's airport where he had been due to meet Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan leader, and Cristina Kirchner, the Argentinian president. The meeting was later cancelled [AFP]
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Morales later condemned the protesters as "enemies of our homeland". The protest comes as he prepares to face a recall vote on Sunday that could see him removed from office [AFP]
Elsewhere two people died after police clashed with striking miners who had blocked the road linking the administrative capital of La Paz with the city of Oruro to demand higher pensions [AFP]
The government said protests by the Huanuni miners and anti-Morales demonstrators were attempts by the opposition to weaken the president before Sunday's recall vote [AFP]
Morales is popular in Bolivia's Andean west but faces rising opposition in Tarija and other eastern provinces where an autonomy movement has blocked his agenda, including a new constitution and land reform [AFP]
