La Paz, Bolivia, Jun 7, 2005 / 22:00 pm
In the wake of Bolivian president Carlos Mesa’s decision to step down, Bishop Jesus Juarez of El Alto and Vice President of the Bolivian Bishops’ Conference said the Church would continue to search for a solution to the crisis gripping the country.
Speaking on Radio Erbol, Bishop Juarez, who has been acting as mediator in the crisis since last Friday, said, “I think that as the Church we are going to continuing searching for possible solutions to the crisis, and perhaps with this development, that will intensify.”
The Church “supports the democratic process and the rule of law,” he added, noting that Congress must respond to the resignation of Mesa and search for the “most appropriate” constitutional solution in accord with the desires of the Bolivian people.
Protestors have been engaged in a blockade of the country’s main highways leading out of La Paz, cutting off access to other Bolivian cities, in an attempt to force the government to hold a Constitutional Assembly and to nationalize the country’s natural gas industry.