La Paz, Bolivia, Jun 6, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The Bishops’ Conference of Bolivia announced it would offer mediation in the social crisis gripping the country with the condition that there be a stop to all “attitudes of violence and intransigence” and that all radical demands yield to dialogue.
The Conference issued their statement shortly after a meeting between Cardinal Julio Terrazas Sandova, Archbishop of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and top government officials, following the dramatic resignation of President Carlos Mesa.
The statement said government leaders were willing to work for concrete solutions to the problems affecting the country “within the bounds of the Bolivian constitution.”
The bishops also called for “patriotic gestures” on the part of all Bolivians and the ceasing of all “attempts to pressure,” especially those that are taking place in La Paz and which endanger “those most poor,” and to ensure such measures do not spread to other cities in the country.