Indigenous protests are continuing since they erupted in mid September in the Antiplano region in Bolivia after President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada announced a new program to export natural gas to Mexico and the United States.
Bolivia has all but come to a stand still. Protesters have constructed road blocks in El Alto and La Paz to stop the flow of traffic and have demanded that the President resign. While the government says the project will raise much needed export revenue, indigenous peoples believe they will receive no benefits whatsoever.
The cost of the protest in terms of human lives so far has been substantial. Two weeks ago seven people were killed when state forces drove vehicles into protester road blocks. On Thursday October 9th two more people were killed in clashes with State forces. On October 15th Human Rights Watch organization released a report stating that a further fifty 50 civilians have died.
