Bolivia's Indian movement is feeling powerful after forcing two presidents out of office in two years, and it says it will topple another if it does not win its ultimate goal - a new constitution granting Indian communities seats in Congress. An overhaul of the Bolivian constitution would be an unprecedented vindication of native rights in the region conquered by Spain 500 years ago.
Indians, many descended from the mighty Incas who were enslaved in colonial silver mines, say they seek justice for the downtrodden majority in South America's poorest country.
"This is a legitimate demand to make a more inclusive, brotherly constitution, recognising that we are the majority," said Indian Affairs Minister Pedro Ticona, whose top priority is to get the fragmented Congress to call for a national assembly to rewrite the constitution.
Critics say Indian demands for a constitution granting them unelected congressional seats for their communities would be undemocratic.
The critics also contend that foreign business will be scared away from this perennially unstable Andean nation if Indian groups move the country in a populist direction following other Latin American nations such as Venezuela and Argentina.
"Constitutional reform is being imposed by violent pressure from some groups over the rest of the society. They speak 'in the name of the people' but that does not give them legitimate power," said Roberto Laserna, an economist from the Universidad Mayor de San Simon university.
In a display of this political clout, protesters demanding a new constitution and nationalisation of Bolivia's rich natural gas fields set up road blocks all over the country and shut down the main city La Paz last month. They forced President Carlos Mesa to resign on June 7, just 20 months after his predecessor Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada stepped down in an earlier wave of protests.
Mesa had set up a government office to gather input for eventual constitutional reforms but his efforts were moving too slowly for the Indian movement, which has become impatient after years of promises.
Protesters last week threatened new President Eduardo Rodriguez, a caretaker leader for six months, that they will cripple the country again if he does not push constitutional reform. But political observers do not expect any breakthroughs soon.
Rodriguez has promised to work on the issue, but only Congress can call a national assembly to rewrite the constitution. The needed two-thirds vote may be tough to get right now since the Indian movement is also pressuring the entire Congress to resign before a general election in December.
Behind the political demands lies deep anger among Indians over what they see as racism in the country. Bolivia's harsh poverty means many Indians still live without electricity and running water.
"They've been managing us for 500 years. They want to manage us for 500 more. We're going to change that and that's why they're scared. We're coming on now," said Victor Condori, communications chief for the National Cullasuyu Council of Tribes and Communities, speaking broken Spanish.
Indian protests in the 1990s forced the government to give native people more power in local government. And Indian political parties have won almost a third of the seats in Congress. Some indigenous deputies make a strong cultural presence on the floor wearing traditional Andean ear-flap hats and ponchos and chewing coca leaves.
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