LA PAZ, Bolivia, March 16 (UPI) -- Bolivian President Carlos Mesa has called for early elections amid widespread protests throughout the country, La Razon newspaper reported Wednesday.
Mesa wants elections Aug. 28, some two years ahead of schedule as he has repeatedly expresses a desire to leave office.
Earlier this month, the Bolivian leader said he was resigning due to the ongoing protests and the inability to work with opposition groups who oppose some of his free-market policies.
Mesa offered his resignation to Congress and lawmakers rejected it.
Meanwhile protesters vowed to increase roadblocks and other methods of crippling the poor South American nation.
Bolivia's indigenous groups and others on the left want the president to raise taxes on foreign energy companies to 50 percent, a move the president says would frighten away foreign investors.
