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Eight killed in Bolivia clashes, US tensions rise
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-12 11:04

In a sign of regional concern about the escalating chaos, Brazil's more moderate leftist government said it would not accept any attempt to overthrow Morales.

A man attempts to extinguish a fire during an anti-government protest, demanding Bolivian President Evo Morales gives more revenue to their regions and scraps a constitutional reform, in Santa Cruz September 10, 2008. [Agencies]

"We won't tolerate a rupture in the constitutional order of Bolivia," Marco Aurelio Garcia, foreign policy advisor to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told reporters.

Bolivian Finance Minister Luis Arce said the army was sending more troops to natural gas fields and border crossings with Brazil after protesters vandalized pipelines and stormed a pumping station, cutting natural gas imports to Argentina and temporarily halving exports to Brazil.

Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and its economy is heavily dependent on natural gas. Brazil is Bolivia's biggest foreign investor and half of its natural gas needs are met by Bolivian imports.

Clashes also erupted in Tarija, a region rich in natural gas, and anti-Morales demonstrators occupied public buildings in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, an opposition stronghold, for a third day.

American Airlines canceled flights to Santa Cruz, and Bolivia's Erbol radio said gunfire wounded five people after a militia-style anti-Morales youth group stormed a market in a pro-Morales neighborhood in the city.

Troops were withdrawn from downtown Santa Cruz after several soldiers were beaten up in front of TV cameras earlier this week. The government response has been restrained.

However, Bolivia's ambassador to Brazil, Rene Dorfler, said the government was considering imposing martial law.

"We've been asked for patience, prudence, and we're going to hang in there. But patience also has a limit," Morales said in a speech in La Paz, adding that large landholders who oppose his land reforms were financing the opposition.

Since taking office, Morales has channeled more state revenues and given more power to his Indian power base in western Bolivia, accentuating a rift with the mixed race population of the east.