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Bolivia Clashes After Opposition Leader Assumes as President

Associated Press

   LA PAZ - Clashes broke out in the streets of the Bolivian capital
   Tuesday evening after an opposition leader in the Senate declared
   herself the country's interim president following the resignation of
   Evo Morales.

   Jeanine Anez assumed temporary control of the Senate late in the day,
   putting her next in line for the presidency. Lawmakers of Morales'
   Movement for Socialism party were not present when she made the
   announcement.

   Angry Morales' supporters tried to reach the Congress building
   screaming, "She must quit!" Police and soldiers fired tear gas trying
   to disperse the crowd.

   Morales, who sought to transform Bolivia as its first indigenous
   president, flew to exile in Mexico on Tuesday as thousands of his
   supporters clamored for his return in the streets of the Bolivian
   capital.

   Military fighter jets flew repeatedly over La Paz in a show of force
   that infuriated Morales loyalists who were blocked by security forces
   from marching to the main square.

   "We're not afraid!" shouted demonstrators, who believe the ouster of
   Morales following massive protests was a coup d'etat as well as an act
   of discrimination against Bolivia's indigenous communities.

   "Evo was like a father to me. We had a voice, we had rights," said
   35-year-old Maria Apasa. Like Morales, she is a member of the Aymara
   indigenous group.

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