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Bolivian army would quell breakaway bid - Morales

10 Dec 2006 02:18:58 GMT
Source: Reuters

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Saturday military force would be used to fight any attempt to divide the Andean country, where calls for regional autonomy have grown in recent days.

The leftist Morales accuses a wealthy elite opposed to his reforms of seeking to split Bolivia with campaigns for greater autonomy from the central government in four of the impoverished country's nine regions.

"These enemies of Bolivia are understanding autonomy as secession, as the separation of Bolivia, and there won't be any division, any separation of our homeland, the armed forces are there," Morales told about 40,000 supporters at a gathering of social activists in the central city of Cochabamba.

The gathering was held alongside an official summit of South American presidents, including Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, a close Morales ally who said Venezuela would "not stand idle" in the face of any action aimed at destabilizing Morales' government.

"Here we are, with you, resisting the aggression, because we feel it is our responsibility," Chavez told the crowd in a stadium in Cochabamba.

Following sometimes violent pro-autonomy demonstrations in the wealthy region of Santa Cruz this week, local leaders have renewed their demands for more regional independence from the national government in La Paz.

They have called a public meeting for Friday at which they will decide their next step. Leaders of the regions of Pando, Tarija and Beni are organizing similar meetings next week.

Opposition to some Morales' policies, such as his plan to redistribute idle farmland to peasants farmers, is strongest in those regions.

Both Morales and Chavez have accused Washington of conspiring with the opposition.

"The struggle continues against North American imperialism ... the people together with the armed forces and its government will never allow them to boycott this process of change," said Morales, the country's first Indian president.

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Last updated:Fri Jan 12 05:23:29 2007