New President Takes Office in Bolivia

Bolivia's new interim president, Eduardo Rodriguez, took office today, promising to call early elections in an effort to calm the opposition protests that have paralysed the country for nearly a month.

Mr Rodriguez also said he would work with congress, indigenous groups calling for the nationalisation of the energy sector and regional provinces demanding autonomy, to reunify South America's poorest country.

"I believe Bolivians deserve better. Our children deserve better days," he told MPs. "One of my tasks will be to begin an electoral process and to continue building a democratic system that is more just."

Mr Rodriguez, 49, became president late yesterday at the end of an emergency session of congress that was held in Bolivia's historic capital, Sucre, rather than La Paz because of concerns over security.

Formerly the chief justice of the country's supreme court, he was automatically appointed after MPs accepted the resignation of his predecessor, Carlos Mesa, and the two congressional leaders ahead of him in the presidential pecking order - the senate leader, Hormando Vaca Diez, and the house leader, Mario Cossio - declined the job.

Demonstrators had insisted that they would not accept Mr Vaca or Mr Cossio as president because they came from discredited traditional parties that the indigenous opposition leader Evo Morales has termed the "mafia of the oligarchy".

Congress had been deliberating for seven hours when clashes broke out between protesters and riot police in Sucre, apparently precipitating the decision-making process. The clashes began after the first death in almost a month of protests, when Coro Mayta, a 52-year-old miner, was reportedly killed at a police checkpoint near the city.

Mr Mesa's pro-Washington government was the second to succumb to the anger of the indigenous population in recent years. It lasted only 19 months, falling amid mounting protests and violence in the streets. Bolivia's constitution stipulates that Mr Rodriguez must call a presidential election within 180 days. Mr Morales, who is an MP and head of the Movement Towards Socialism party, is likely to be a leading candidate.

In La Paz, protesters demanding early elections danced in the streets while Mr Mesa cleared his desk at the presidential palace.

"This decision will work to bring about the pacification of the country," he said. "I wish my successor the greatest success. Now may the country return to normalcy."

Mr Rodriguez said he would try to organise a "constitutional assembly" - another of the protesters' demands - to provide poor and indigenous groups with a greater say in national politics, examine demands to nationalise Bolivia's oil industry and study regional aspirations for greater autonomy.

During their protests, activists seized several oilfield installations, crippling the national economy and leaving La Paz short of fuel and food. They also blockaded roads around the capital and held daily marches.

The tension in Bolivia prior to the naming of Mr Rodriguez as president was such that Spain sent a plane to neighbouring Peru ready to pick up its nationals while the US embassy issued a travel warning and authorised the departure of all nonessential staff.