Bolivia Congress Names New President, Setting Stage for Elections

Bolivia's Congress accepted the (1) ___________ of President Carlos Mesa late on Thursday night and swore in the head of the Supreme Court as the new president, an appointment expected to defuse more than three weeks of protests that have paralyzed the nation. Eduardo Rodríguez, who as president of the Supreme Court was third in the line of (2) ___________, succeeded Mr. Mesa after the two congressional leaders who were first and second in line dropped out. The two politicians, Hormando Vaca Díez, the Senate president, and Mario Cossío, the House of Delegates president, were seen by protesters as emblematic of Bolivia's failed ruling class.

Mr. Rodríguez, a respected jurist without party affiliations, is seen as an independent who will serve only as a caretaker with one mission: to (3)____________ early elections. Those elections, which could take three months to plan, could lead to the election of the first government of indigenous people in Latin America in centuries.

In a short speech given in Sucre, the judicial capital of Bolivia, 450 miles southeast of La Paz, Mr. Rodríguez asked his countrymen to work together to (4) ___________ the crisis that has shaken the country.

Among the leading candidates to (5) ___________ for president, once elections are called, is Evo Morales, an Aymara Indian who is the influential leader of the Movement Toward Socialism party. Mr. Morales has gained prominence leading Bolivia's coca growers, earning him the unending enmity of the United States, which has financed coca eradication efforts here.

Mr. Mesa's presidency, which ended less than 20 months after he (6) ___________ office, ended after 11 p.m. Thursday when he walked out of the presidential palace. He spoke to reporters briefly before speeding off. "I have made mistakes, and I have made errors," Mr. Mesa said. "But my conscience is calm. I served Bolivia as best I could."

His (7) _____________, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, resigned in October 2003 after troops killed 60 protesters in a violent uprising against his rule.

The late-night agreement that led to Mr. Rodríguez's (8) _____________ came after a tumultuous day that began when Mr. Vaca Díez convened a special session in Sucre because La Paz, the commercial capital, was paralyzed by protests. But party leaders haggled for hours, while Indians and miners descended on Sucre. After one protester, a 52-year-old miner, was fatally shot by police, becoming the first demonstrator killed in weeks of protests, the session was (9) ___________. Under pressure, Mr. Vaca Díez later announced that he would not seek the (10) ___________. Mr. Cossío also stepped aside.

Ex. 10. Work in pairs or in small groups. Discuss the following issues:

1. Differencies and similarities in the electoral systems of Great Britain and the USA.

2. The foundations of the electoral system of Kazakhstan.

3. Presidential elections in the Ukraine of 2004: new precedencies.

4. Election returns and "color" revolutions: case studies.

Unit 7. Human Rights

Key vocabulary

Give equivalents in your mothertongue to the following English words and phrases:

Affirmative action program

allegations of atrocities

to curb freedoms of the press and public assembly

eligible to

employment opportunities

to fall into poverty

to fall under a pay-for-service system

to file a complaint with the local labor bureau

to have health benefits

human rights groups