Bolivian miners are calling for President Rodrigo Paz to resign, just six months after he was sworn into office. The Andean nation is going through its worst economic crisis in a generation.
Blasting small charges of dynamite has become increasingly common in the second week of the nationwide unrest.
Thousands of Bolivian miners marched through downtown La Paz to demand labor reforms, fuel, and greater access to explosives, among other things.
But as the hours passed, they began chanting slogans calling for the president's resignation. Police responded to violent protestors by discharging tear gas.
Bolivia's economic downturn has worsened of late due to a shortage of US dollars and a decline in energy production.
The latest wave of protests was triggered by farmers demanding that a law permitting land mortgage be repealed.
Although Paz signed a decree to annul the law on Wednesday, protests have only continued to spread.
President Paz was sworn into office only six months ago, winning the election on promises to pull the Andean nation out of its worst economic crisis in a generation.
Bolivia: Teachers train to improve students' media skills To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Miners meet President Paz Before demonstrators and police clashed on Thursday, a delegation of about 20 miners entered the presidential palace for a meeting with the president, Reuters reported, citing a source.
Separately, the Bolivian president had convened several ministers for emergency talks on the miners' demands.
Bolivia's Economy Minister Jose Gabriel Espinoza said the government was "open to dialogue" as he entered the palace.
Meanwhile, the authorities said that, as of Tuesday, there had been reports of 67 blockades on the country's highways, which had been blocked by large trucks several days ago. This has led to shortages of food, goods and medicines for hospitals.
Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko Advertisement
