Bolivia's government and a main opposition rival emerged from marathon talks today voicing hope for reconciliation, after 15 - mostly pro-government peasant farmers - had been killed in clashes with right wing backers of the opposition.
Leftist President Evo Morales called the talks to try to defuse a bitter power struggle with opposition regional governors who are vehemently opposed to his socialist reforms and want a bigger share of energy resources for their regions.
The governor of natural gas-rich Tarija province, Mario Cossio, held talks at the presidential palace with the country's vice president into the early hours. He said he was representing three other rebel governors who rejected talks.
"We have fulfilled the objective of opening talks, and let's hope that in the coming hours this turns into a sustained process of dialogue which results in a pact to resolve problems in the framework of national reconciliation," Cossio told reporters afterwards.
Fabian Yacsik, vice minister for decentralization, said the nearly eight-hour talks had touched on a host of divisive issues, from disitribution of royalties from natural resources to the new pro-indigenous constitution that Morales is pushing and right-wing opposition governors abhor.
"What we have done at this meeting is to lay the foundation to start dialogue and have coincided on several points, and indentified the base on which to re-establish peace in the country," Yacsik said.
Cossio must now brief fellow opposition governors who refused to attend.
Anti-government protesters continued to block roads in eastern areas yesterday, causing fuel and food shortages in the opposition-led city of Santa Cruz. Officials said protesters had destroyed or set fire to about 30 public buildings earlier in the week.
The violent protests, which have drawn expressions of concern from neighboring countries, forced authorities to cut exports of natural gas to Argentina and Brazil, though near-normal supplies were later resumed.
The worst violence occurred in the remote Amazon region of Pando, where the government declared martial law.
Officials said at least 15 people - mostly pro-government peasant farmers - had been killed in clashes with right wing backers of the opposition regional governor.
"This has been a massacre which is among the darkest pages of our history, one of the bloodiest episodes in our country," said Sacha Llorenti, deputy minister for coordination of social movements. He said the peasant farmers were ambushed and attacked with machine guns on Thursday.
There was no immediate independent confirmation of how the people had died, though aid workers planned to travel to the site of the killings on Saturday, the Red Cross said.
Morales, who won a recall referendum in August with 67 percent of the vote, said his administration was willing to talk with its opponents but that reaching a final deal would be difficult.
A former coca farmer and Bolivia's first Indian president, Morales has angered opponents with plans to overhaul the constitution and break up ranches to give land to peasants.
The governors want greater autonomy for their regions. They blame Morales for the recent violence and sabotage on gas pipelines.
The crisis has also raised tensions with the United States.
Morales, a close ally of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, ordered U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg out of the country earlier this week, accusing him of fomenting anti-government protests. Washington retaliated by expelling Bolivia's ambassador.
Reuters