Reply #24: Bolivia's gas region rejects president's call for voters to decide on gas [View All]

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LA PAZ, Bolivia, Oct 21, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Bolivians living near the country's underground natural gas reserves announced a march Tuesday to voice disapproval of the new president's plans to have voters decide whether to export the gas abroad.

The rejection of the president's offer of a referendum marked a resurgence of public scrutiny of the controversial issue that sparked monthlong protests that ousted the former president and left 65 dead.

Civic leaders and businessmen in Tarija, a southern Bolivian state that is home to most of the nation's gas reserves, scheduled a march later afternoon in favor of exporting gas to North America.

"This is a vital project not only for the development of our region, but for the development of the entire country," Roberto Ruiz, a civic leader in Tarija, told the Bolivian daily La Razon.

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