(Adds governor's quote, background, details) By Raymond Colitt SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Bolivian President Evo Morales and governors who led a violent rebellion against his socialist reforms agreed on Tuesday on a road map to end a week-long crisis in the impoverished South American country. The governors pledged to end occupations of government buildings, after a wave of violent protests left 17 dead last week, and Morales said he would discuss their demands for more autonomy and a greater share of state energy revenue. Five governors from the relatively wealthy eastern side of the country agreed to talks even though one was arrested by the army earlier on Tuesday after the leftist Morales accused him of massacring 15 peasant farmers last week. "If we want to return calm to the regions, let's sign this document. The government did it, the governors must too. Not signing means violence, confrontation, aggression and a greater divide between Bolivians," Vice President Alvaro Garcia said. An unstable landlocked country at the heart of the South American continent, Bolivia is split between backers of Morales' plans to give land to the poor and overhaul the constitution, and a minority who say he is turning the country into another Cuba. Morales is friendly with former Cuban President Fidel Castro and socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Morales and Chavez both expelled the U.S. ambassadors in their countries last week, saying Washington was fomenting opposition to Morales in Bolivia. The United States retaliated in kind and said Morales was making a grave error. MARTIAL LAW Eastern Bolivia erupted in violent anti-Morales protests last week and the president declared martial law in the remote region of Pando and arrested its governor, Leopoldo Fernandez. The attorney general said Fernandez, a member of the rightist Podemos opposition party, would be investigated on accusations of genocide in the case of 15 pro-Morales peasants who were killed on Thursday. During the protests anti-Morales groups ransacked and occupied dozens of government buildings, blocked highways and sabotaged natural gas pipelines, temporarily cutting off exports to neighboring Argentina and Brazil. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and its biggest source of revenue is natural gas, which is pumped out of the eastern lowlands. "We have decided to sign this accord for peace to return," Gov. Ruben Costas of the opposition stronghold of Santa Cruz told reporters. The talks are scheduled to begin on Thursday. Morales is Bolivia's first indigenous president and was confirmed by a landslide in an August recall election. The country is roughly divided between the mountainous Andean west, home to mainly Quechua and Aymara Indians, and the eastern lowlands, where a lot of the population is descended from Europeans. Morales, a former coca-leaf farmer from a poor background, has often accused the opposition in the eastern provinces of being motivated by racism. He says his proposed new constitution would reverse centuries of discrimination against Bolivia's Indian majority, but his opponents fear he will tighten state control of the economy and break up wealthy land owners' ranches. Tensions had been rising since August, when Morales and the governors who oppose him were all confirmed in their posts. Morales' hand was strengthened when South American presidents held an emergency summit in Chile on Monday to call for an end to violent protests in Bolivia and condemn any coup attempts against him. At the summit, Morales showed video footage of his political opponents urging followers to push for independence and of an opposition mob attacking pro-government Indians, according to a member of the Brazilian delegation. The Bolivian army says it backs Morales, who has accused his opponents of planning a civilian coup against him. (Additional reporting by Natuza Nery in Brazilia and Luis Jaime Acosta in La Paz; Writing by Fiona Ortiz; editing by Patricia Zengerle)
A video grab shows Pando Province Governor Leopoldo Fernandez listening to an army officer before being arrested by Bolivian military in Cobija town September 16, 2008. Bolivian troops on Tuesday arrested ...
