Bolivia Shaken by New Cabinet Crisis
President Victor Paz Estenssoro’s 18-member Cabinet resigned Tuesday, hours after legislators formally asked for the resignation of five of the ministers, a spokesman said.
The resignation marked the second time in 12 days that the center-right government of Paz Estenssoro, 79, has been shaken by a Cabinet crisis.
All 18 government ministers decided to offer the Bolivian leader their resignations in a meeting Tuesday morning, Information Minister Herman Antelo said.
The Chamber of Deputies voted unanimously during a six-hour meeting Monday night to demand the resignation of five ministers involved in implementing Paz’s free-market economic policies.
Legislators accused the government of failing to pay about $150 million in dividends to three oil-producing states in southern and eastern Bolivia.
The request signaled growing fissures in the “democratic pact” between Paz’s National Revolutionary Movement party and the right-wing National Democratic Action, whose members appealed for the resignations.
Paz reshuffled his Cabinet on Feb. 27 in changes that included replacing the key interior and agriculture ministers.
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