The Bolivia natural gas protests in early 2005 are in many ways a continuation of the 2003 "Bolivia Gas War," and some refer to the 2005 protests as a "Second" Bolivian Gas War. The protests center around the decision to nationalize or privatize Bolivian natural gas reserves, which is portrayed as benefiting Bolivians or foreign interests such as multinational corporations, respectively. Natural gas rig Natural gas (commonly refered to as gas in many countries) is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Bolivian Gas War was a conflict in Bolivia centering around the exploitation of the countrys vast natural gas reserves. ... Nationalization is the act of taking assets into state ownership. ... Privatization (sometimes privatisation, denationalization, or, especially in India, disinvestment) is the process of transferring property, from public ownership to private ownership and/or transferring the management of a service or activity from the government to the private sector. ... A multinational corporation (MNC) or multinational enterprise (MNE) or transnational corporation (TNC) is one that spans multiple nations; these corporations are often very large. ...

Whereas the first political battle centered around the policies of incumbent president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, the second is centered around the policies of Carlos Mesa, who, despite his populist appeal, is seen by many to cater to American and foreign interest. The first "war" left over 80 protesters dead at the hands of the Bolivian military, and forced the former president to resign. Mesa, likewise issued his resignation twice, first in January, and later in June. Congress rejected the first, but accepted the second, promoting Supreme Court Chief Justice Eduardo Rodriguez to the Presidency, until elections can be held. Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada y Sánchez Bustamante (born July 1, 1930), familiarly known as Goni, is a former two-term president of Bolivia. ... Carlos Diego Mesa Gisbert (born August 12, 1953) is the current President of Bolivia, having held the office from October 17, 2003. ... Politics of Bolivia Categories: Election related stubs | Elections in Bolivia ...

At issue is Bolivia's large natural gas reserves and the prospect for their future sale and use, as benefiting the local economy or benifitting foreign investors. At an estimated 1.5 trillion cubic meters, Bolivia's NG reserves are worth over 1.2 billion USD, and despite years of negotiotiation, local labor and peasant groups remain dissatisfied with proposed deals —the 2003 Lozada deal would only give Bolivians 18% of its own gas revenues, and would have exported the gas in raw form to Chile. Chile still occupies the litoral region, which it had seized from Boliva and Peru in the mid 19th century.

External links

• Bolivia's top Court chief takes Presidency (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050610/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/bolivia_unrest) AP (Yahoo news)