Bolivia deal to herald fresh elections

The political compromise calls for new elections by April and promises to remove the military from the streets

A breakthrough in Bolivia's political crisis has cleared the way for repairs to a sabotaged natural gas pipeline after protestors lifted roadblocks.

Interim president Jeanine Anez has struck a compromise with the socialist Mas party of former leader Evo Morales to enable fresh elections to proceed by the end of April. A new electoral board will be installed within 20 days, tasked with calling elections within 120 days of its inauguration. The legislation prohibits Morales and his former vice-president, Alvaro Garcia — who sought asylum in Mexico along with Morales earlier this month — from running in the elections.

Morales supporters agreed to lift roadblocks, while the Anez administration vowed to withdraw the military from the streets. The removal of roadblocks has allowed workers from state-owned oil firm YPFB to access the Carrasco-Cochabamba gas pipeline that was sabotaged in early November for repairs. Around 200m of the line was damaged, YPFB says. The pipeline supplies the 700,000 t/yr Bulo Bulo urea and ammonia plant in Cochabamba's jungle region, which had been producing at a reduced capacity since late October because of the roadblocks.

The unrest broke out shortly after elections on 20 October that the Washington-based Organization of American States deemed to be tainted. The military abandoned Morales after he declared victory in his bid for a fourth presidential term, prompting Anez, a conservative former senator, to declare an interim administration. Morales and his supporters say he was the victim of a coup. Among his regional backers are Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela and Uruguay.

Tensions peaked this month after protesters blocked a fuel terminalin El Alto, near La Paz. The armed forces have been escorting convoys of fuel tankers through the restive region to replenish supplies. The unrest in Bolivia did not impact the country's pipeline gas exports to Brazil and Argentina, which account for the bulk of government revenue. The operations of foreign firms, including Total, Shell, Spain's Repsol and Russia's Gazprom, were largely unaffected.

Bolivia gas output