By Mary Milliken

La Paz - Violent clashes between police and protesters and massive marches by indigenous groups in La Paz on Tuesday paralysed the capital, scaring lawmakers and forcing suspension of a key session of Bolivia's congress.

Riot police posted outside congress lobbed tear gas and fired water cannon to repel dynamite-throwing protesters, while thousands demanding nationalisation of the energy sector took over the city of 700 000 and blocked access to the airport.

President Carlos Mesa had vowed to guarantee safety for the first session of congress in two weeks in which lawmakers were set to debate measures to defuse widespread protests over a new energy law.

'I am sure that with this maneuvering he aims to become president of the republic'

Only 62 of the 130 deputies dared to venture into the city's narrow colonial streets and past heavily guarded police barriers, prompting Lower House chairperson Mario Cossio to suspend the session for lack of quorum.

Even congress president Hormando Vaca Diez did not appear and the main opposition and indigenous leader Evo Morales accused him of conspiring against democracy.

"I am sure that with this manoeuvring he aims to become president of the republic," Morales said.

Mesa, a political independent with few friends in congress, came to power in 2003 after Indian protests ousted his pro-Washington predecessor, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. Despite attempts to heal the social wounds of South America's poorest nation, he has struggled to stay in office amid growing Indian political militancy.

On Tuesday, protesters from the militant indigenous city of El Alto, many of them university students, launched dynamite with slingshots at police. In the rarefied air of the world's highest capital, protesters and office workers scurried to escape clouds of tear gas.

At night, police reported looting of vendors' stalls that had not shut down and attacks on cars and minivans.

Interior Minister Saul Lara said "activists" had been arrested, but he did not specify how many.

Cossio told local radio he will try to convene a new session on Wednesday.

The main demand of the mostly indigenous protesters is for a share of Bolivia's vast natural gas reserves, the second largest in Latin America.

Many in the poor indigenous majority think an energy law approved by congress two weeks ago falls short on state control and some want full nationalisation of the sector now dominated by foreign firms.

But the energy law was not on Tuesday's congressional agenda. Instead, congress aims to make progress on demands by another powerful sector: the wealthy eastern provinces home to Bolivia's gas and oil fields that want more autonomy.

Congress will try to set a date for an autonomy referendum, a promise the government made in January to defuse an independence movement in Santa Cruz spearheaded by the European-descended elite at loggerheads with the growing influence of Indians in the west and the capital.

Santa Cruz civic leaders have unilaterally called an autonomy referendum for August.

In a delicate balancing act, the government wants congress to begin work on a demand of the indigenous groups: an assembly to rewrite the constitution and redistribute power to reflect the indigenous majority.

But analysts said that even if congress meets, it will be difficult for legislators to come to an agreement on autonomy and the assembly.

"At this moment, no one wants to agree with anyone else," said political analyst Jorge Lazarte.

Additional reporting by Mario Roque in El Alto and Claudia Gaillard in Congress

Published on the Web by IOL on 2005-06-01 07:14:01