Carlos Mesa

A historian and one-time television commentator, Mesa was elected vice president in 2002. He took over as president in October 2003, following a wave of protests that forced President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada to flee into exile in the United States.

As president, Mesa has struggled to govern a country whose Indian majority has become increasingly combative. Frustrated with their traditionally subservient status, Aymara, Quechua and other Indian groups are beginning to support activists who blame the country's economic woes on a capitalist system dominated by people of European descent.

In January, with Bolivia wracked by protests that all but shut down its two largest cities, Mesa said he would resign rather than use force to restore order. The president eventually made key concessions to the protesters and a crisis was averted.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 12, 2005
(C) All rights reserved