Weekly Report - 16 March 2004

Bolivia's congress has reverted to form, making life difficult for the Mesa administration, first with the treatment of the fiscal measures already amended under pressure from the Santa Cruz lobby (WR-04-10), then with preparations for a vote of censure against mines & hydrocarbons minister Alvaro Rí­os. The latter was only avoided when Rí­os decided, last week, to resign — prompting the first major change in President Carlos Mesa's cabinet.