Massive rally demands more autonomy for Bolivian state ahead of referendum

June 29, 2006, 2:21AM
Massive rally demands more autonomy for Bolivian state ahead of referendum


By ALVARO ZUAZO
Associated Press

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — About 150,000 people demanded autonomy for Bolivia's wealthiest state late Wednesday in one of the nation's largest demonstrations ever just four days before a national referendum on the issue.

Bolivians will vote Sunday on whether to give the country's nine states more executive and financial powers at the expense of the central government.

Santa Cruz leaders are spearheading the "yes" campaign — maintaining that too much of the state's wealth is sucked away by the central government to subsidize Bolivia's poorer and more Indian western highlands.

Santa Cruz, whose state capital of the same name is 356 miles southeast of La Paz, has only 1.2 million of Bolivia's 8.5 million inhabitants yet generates a third of its wealth. Its lighter-skinned elite present the strongest opposition to President Evo Morales and his leftist policies.
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Santa Cruz, Bolivia