LA PAZ, Bolivia, June 10 (UPI) -- Bolivian protesters took to the streets one more time Friday after holding the capital under siege for several weeks
Indigenous, union members and miners cheered Bolivian lawmakers' decision late Thursday to accept the resignation of President Carlos Mesa and the appointment of a new leader, former Supreme Court President Eduardo Rodriguez.
"After weeks of protesting we defeated the government, our struggle wasn't in vain," said Segundina Flores, an indigenous Bolivian.
Rodriguez was actually third in line to assume the presidency. Senate President Hormando Vaca Diez and Congress President Mario Cossio Cortez both declined the position. Protesters had denounced them all week as part-in-parcel of the Mesa administration they despised.
The new president has promised to call for early elections by the end of the year, and look into protesters' demand for the nationalization of Bolivia's gas industry.
Friday's march also took on a mournful note. Thousands of miners honored their comrade Carlos Coro Mayta, who was killed in clashes with police on Thursday in the historic Bolivian capital of Sucre.
