Bolivian miners clashes with police in La Paz and demand President's resignation

On Thursday, explosives could be heard in La Paz as mining groups took to the streets and demanded the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz, a centrist. Witnesses report that demonstrators threw what looked like dynamite sticks at police when they tried to enter Plaza Murillo in the city's central square.

Local miners demand greater access to fuel and explosives, along with revisions of contracts and implementation of mining regulations. Farmers, miners and other union groups have demonstrated as the fuel and economic crisis in the country worsens because of a lack of U.S. dollar and falling energy production.

Six months after the president was sworn in, some?demonstrators demanded his resignation. Last year, the centrist 'Paz' won a resounding election victory promising market-friendly economic reforms that would pull the country from its worst economic crisis for a generation.

The authorities said that they had negotiated with the protesters over issues such as fuel subsidies?and social welfare?benefits to a?revised law on agrarian Reform, also known as Law 1720. This was repealed by Indigenous and rural groups on Wednesday.

A source with knowledge of the situation said that a group of 20 miners visited the presidential palace on Thursday to meet with the president. The president had called several ministers together for an emergency meeting about the miners' concerns.

As he entered into the presidential palace, Bolivia's Economy minister Jose Gabriel Espinoza declared that the government is "open to dialog".

According to TV reports, thousands of trucks were stuck on highways as part of the protests. This led to a shortage of food, medical supplies, and oxygen.

The government officials blamed the opposition, and the former leftist president Evo Morales, for "stoking" the protests.

Morales who was last week held in contempt of court for not attending a case involving trafficking, supported 'those protesting in X. He said on?Thursday, "as long the structural demands - such as fuel, food and inflation - are not addressed, uprising won't be halted."

Paz's victory ended the two-decade rule of the leftists in the country.

(source: Reuters)