OAS warns of possible violence amid power-play in Bolivia

Apr 23, 2008, 22:42 GMT

Washington - A confrontation between Bolivia's government and wealthy regional governors in the east could soon descend into 'violence' and 'killings,' an official of the Organization of American States (OAS) warned Wednesday.

Dante Caputo, the OAS secretary for political affairs, said the 'possibility that the tension turns into conflict and confrontation is real,' during a special meeting of the permanent council of the OAS in Washington.

The fears stem from a referendum on greater autonomy to be held May 4 in the province of Santa Cruz, which lies at the heart of Bolivia's wealthy eastern region that holds the country's natural gas resources, as well as agriculture and industry.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, the country's first indigenous leader, opposes the referendum and has sought to boost federal tax revenues from the region for projects in the poorer west.

Caputo described the impasse as a 'struggle for power' between the national government and the wealthy regions.

Morales has also been battling to nationalize the country's oil and gas resources since his election in 2006.

'The country's resources belong to the people,' Morales said Monday in an address before the United Nations.

Bolivia's government has accepted an offer by the OAS to mediate talks before the May referendum, and Bolivia's OAS ambassador Reynaldo Cuadros on Wednesday said the administration was 'ready to correct mistakes.'

Caputo, who has already led two OAS delegations to Bolivia in the last few weeks, said all that was needed was an 'OK' from the regional governors to start finding a solution to the impasse.