Bolivia defence minister quits over police raid

Bolivia's defence minister resigned on Monday to protest a police crackdown on anti-highway demonstrators, heaping pressure on President Evo Morales over his handling of the unrest.

The month-long protest over plans to build a 185-mile (300 km) highway through the Amazon forest proved uncomfortable for Morales because it was led by Indian communities who normally back his pro-indigenous reforms.

Police broke up the march late on Sunday, firing tear gas and briefly detaining protesters when they raided a camp used by the protesters in the Yucumo region 185 miles (300 km) north of La Paz, local media said.

Several people suffered minor injuries, according to local media reports, and the crackdown was criticized by opposition politicians, the ombudsman and several government officials including Defence Minister Cecilia Chacon.

"This is not the way! We agreed to do things differently," Chacon wrote in her resignation letter, which was published by Bolivian media.

However, Communications Minister Ivan Canelas said police had no choice but to act. "The march was defused because it had become a source of violence," he said.

Bolivia's first president of indigenous descent, Morales has put the controversial $420 million highway at the heart of his drive to boost infrastructure in the poor country.

But fierce opposition to the project from local indigenous leaders has tested his commitment to conservation and exposed differences within his Movement Toward Socialism party.

Some MAS lawmakers expressed support for the demonstration and the demands of the 12,000 residents of the Isiboro Secure Indigenous Territory and National Park, through which the planned road would be built.

Morales, a close ally of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, angered activists in June by saying the road would be built through the territory and park "whether they like it or not."

Seeking to defuse tension over the road, Morales said at the weekend that a referendum would be held in the provinces to be linked by the road "so the people can decide whether the project should go ahead or not."

Morales is highly popular among the Quechua and Aymara indigenous majority in the Andean highlands, but opposition to his policies is strong in eastern lowlands, even among indigenous groups including TIPNIS indians and the Guarani.

Fallout from Sunday's unrest could put him on the defensive before nationwide judicial elections in October that are part of broader reforms to give indigenous people more political power.

Violent protests are common in the natural gas-exporting country, but tensions that topped two governments in 2003 and 2005 have eased since Morales was elected in late 2005.