Morales took office in 2006 amid hopes for national reconciliation in a country long riven by political, ethnic and regional differences. He was the first Indian president in a nation where much of the population is of indigenous ancestry.
But his socialist policies and rhetorical flourishes soon caused discontent in the eastern lowlands, home to much of the nation's agricultural and energy wealth. He accused "oligarchs" of seeking to break away from Bolivia.
Four lowland states voted this year for autonomy in a referendum Morales called treasonous and illegal. A fifth state, Chuquisaca, in the central highlands, has joined the four lowland provinces in opposition to Morales, whose base of support is in the western altiplano.
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patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com
chris.kraul@latimes.com
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McDonnell reported from Buenos Aires and Kraul from Rio de Janeiro. Andres D'Alessandro of The Times' Buenos Aires Bureau, Times staff writer Paul Richter in Washington and special correspondents Oscar Ordonez in La Paz, Bolivia, and Martin Monasterio in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, contributed to this report.
