Bolivia press fears for nation's future

The situation threatens to get out of hand

Newspapers throughout Bolivia have expressed fear and uncertainty over the country's future after the prolonged period of unrest which has seen an offer of resignation by President Carlos Mesa.

Commentators are uncertain whether the institution tasked with resolving the crisis, the national congress, is up to the task.

The La Paz daily El Diario criticises parliament for "failing to fulfil its responsibility for resolving the situation" after "the two weeks of fear which have haunted La Paz".

Describing the situation in the country as unsustainable, it accuses MPs of "waiting until the country is on the point of collapse" before taking action.

Mesa's going but the chaos remains Los Tiempos

El Diario warns MPs that little time remains for them to take action and they need to face the situation "with responsibility, ability and valour".

"Precisely because of the MPs' tardiness, the social groups which have been besieging La Paz have become more radical and widened their demands," it says.

"To stop the situation deteriorating even more, our national representatives need to pull out all the stops to approve the legislation needed to put a brake on the popular unrest."

"Mesa's going but the chaos remains," reads a headline in Cochabamba's Los Tiempos.

"Nothing has been resolved as was expected. On the contrary, the situation has become more worrying and uncertain," an editorial in the paper argues.

The paper worries that the crisis is escalating with different social and political sectors taking advantage of the "chaos" to put increasingly divergent demands - in addition to the common call for the nationalisation of the energy sector - on a creaking political system.

The country is on the verge of suffocation El Deber

It calls for urgent action to "bring back the situation to the realm of democracy and the state of law, while at the same time repairing our desperate image abroad".

"In this scenario of utter confusion, nothing has happened as was expected and desired and the situation has become even more worrying and precarious."

'Suffocation'

In the more affluent lowland Santa Cruz region, El Deber says the country "is immersed in one of the worst crises in its republican history".

"The announcement the president intends to resign has left a feeling of worrying uncertainty throughout the country," it adds.

"The panorama is one of extreme gravity... the country is on the verge of suffocation."

"Various of the principle protagonists of this hazardous chapter in the nation's life - with their inflexible attitudes leading to chaos and anarchy - are failing to measure the terrible risks which Bolivia is facing."

The true will of the people is expressed only via the ballot boxes La Razon

El Deber sees a chink of light in the intervention of the Catholic Church, which it hails as making "a praiseworthy effort" in seeking to calm tempers and bring the various parties to the negotiating table.

Another La Paz daily, La Razon, has a cartoon of several pairs of hands trying to rip apart Bolivia.

"Another setback for democracy," runs a headline in the paper, describing the situation as "a profound crisis for Bolivia".

Mr Mesa, it believes, "could have been a great president, but luck had it that the necessary political conditions were against him, and it fell to him to have to face a ferocious and irrational ideological onslaught".

"Now, it's the turn of the National Congress...parliamentarians must act with political wisdom."

"The true will of the people is expressed only via the ballot boxes. Whatever the objective of this or that leader, such as that of nationalisation, they will have the opportunity to stand for the presidency and submit their plans to a vote.

"Now is not the time for more confrontation."

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaus abroad.