PRESIDENT Carlos Mesa has resigned for the third time in three months, but this time the situation has become too radical for him to able to continue in his post.

Assuming power from his position as vice president after President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was brought down by mass protests in 2003, Mesa announced that while he intended to step down, he would continue in post until Congress meets and makes a decision in that respect, and therefore he is still technically president.

But Evo Morales, leader of the coca farmers and of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), who has the largest following in the country, has warned that the demonstrations that began on May 16 will continue until demands are heard regarding the nationalization of hydrocarbon resources and the convening of a constituent assembly.

Abel Mamani, president of the Federation of Neighborhood Committees in the nearby and agitated municipality of El Alto, explained that Mesa’s resignation could be a maneuver to demobilize the population, as has recently occurred. And he also warned that the protests are to continue, including under any interim president who replaces Mesa, until the social demands are heard. In the meantime, he confirmed that there is to be another rally in La Paz similar to that of Monday, June 6, considered the largest in the capital in the last 20 years.

Together with Jaime Solares, executive secretary of the Bolivian Workers Federation (COB), who has also called for street demonstrations, Morales and Mamani reject any possibility that Mesa could be replaced by Hornando Vaca Diez, president of the Senate, or Mario Cossío, president of the Chamber of Deputies. Mesa escaped from the Palace at midday, pursued by thousands of demonstrators. In the afternoon, he met with the US ambassador and the military high command.

Morales stated that Vaca Diez and Cossío must decline the option of taking Mesa’s place. The presidency would then fall to the head of the Supreme Court, Justice Eduardo Rodríguez, who has said that he is prepared to accept whatever is stipulated in the Constitution.

The stance taken by popular forces has resulted in continuing uncertainty regarding the date and place of a Congressional session that would make a decision on Mesa’s resignation.

Experts consulted after Mesa’s announcement agreed that Vaca Diez and Cossío, linked to the Lozada regime, are not feasible candidates for the presidency, and if either were to assume power, the crisis would worsen.

Vaca Diez stated that any solution should be subject to the Constitution and that Congress should be respected, which was interpreted as his intention to become president.

Senator Hugo Carvajal, a social democrat like Vaca Diez, proposed that all congress members resign their posts and that general elections be held in December. But he distanced himself from the mass demands, claiming that the new Congress would have constitutional powers and hold a referendum on autonomy, which is being pressed for by business-dominated leaders of the eastern region of Santa Cruz, described as separatist oligarchs by the campesino, indigenous and trade union movements.

On the other hand, Vaca Diez is calling Congress into session to discuss Mesa’s resignation, suggesting that such a meeting should take place in another city given the demonstrations encircling La Paz.

Evo Morales, who withdrew his conditional support from Mesa, demanded that the session be held in La Paz, and rejected – as did other mass leaders – Vaca Diez’ idea that protests should be suspended to allow Congress to meet.

The mass marches and rallies being held are calling above all for the nationalization of hydrocarbon resources and a constituent assembly and rejecting autonomy for Santa Cruz.

Before these events, MAS, the nation’s largest political party, demanded in April that profits from mineral resources beginning at the mouth of the wells should be distributed 50/50 between the state and transnational companies, and also called for the convening of a constituent assembly, angrily rejecting the demands for autonomy made by the provinces of Santa Cruz, Tarija, Beni and Pando.

The oligarchy of Santa Cruz, which has the most economic weight and is where the largest businesses and transnationals are based, called for an autonomy referendum, and has managed to drag part of the local population behind it., Together with amendments to the Hydrocarbons Law, the Chamber of Deputies approved a law to convene that referendum, setting the date for August 28.

Leaders of the trade unions, neighborhood committees and political groups in La Paz and the rest of the western region – particularly the MAS – believe that the Santa Cruz oligarchy is looking for a way to divide Bolivia.

Morales, who is also a congressional deputy and a leader of coca farmers and campesinos, denounced preparations for a fascist coup. But he is no longer opposed to the president’s resignation or to elections at the end of this year. The MAS leader has said that he does not want the oil companies to leave, but according to news sources, many of his followers are making that demand, as is the COB.

The MAS is demanding that oil companies pay 50% royalties like they did before the law passed by Lozada in 1994. But Congress voted not to increase royalties, and to create a 32% tax on production; the MAS, however, considers that to be insufficient, vulnerable and a betrayal, and is demanding a constituent assembly with full powers.

The MAS as well as the COB, Campesinos Union Federation and movements of indigenous peoples, university students, urban and rural teachers, lawyers’ federations, doctors and other professionals, have expressed their opposition to amendments passed by Congress to the Hydrocarbons Law.

The opposition believes that private companies that currently exploit to their benefit those important natural resources should be nationalized without compensation or that higher taxes should be imposed on resources, in order to contribute to the benefit of the entire nation.

The amendments to the Hydrocarbons Law approved by a bare majority of Congress on May 17 were the spark that set off the radicalization of grassroots movements in opposition to those measures and, above all, to Bolivia’s legal order.

In recent days, Morales has been making more forceful calls to reestablish the national constitution.