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Political Vacuum in Bolivia as Morales Announces Resignation

By Linda Farthing

"The situation is very unstable and does seem to be deteriorating," said AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth to Al Jazeera about Evo Morales' resignation.

A jubilant crowd in La Paz celebrated Bolivian President Evo Morales's resignation on Sunday, even as the country faced a political vacuum in the wake of October's controversial election...

Morales, who was already under pressure following the October 20 elections, resigned after electoral fraud was identified in a preliminary report released by the Organization of American States (OAS) early on Sunday morning.

Bolivia finds itself embroiled in its worst political crisis in decades after Morales secured a slight margin of victory over his principal rival, former President and Vice-President Carlos Mesa, in the poll...

Protesters have filled city streets and set up roadblocks that have brought commerce to a standstill.

"The situation is very unstable and does seem to be deteriorating," Eric Farnsworth, Vice President of the Council of the Americas told Al Jazeera from Washington, DC.

"Bolivia is traditionally a very divided society. It's divided in geographical terms, in socio-economic terms, in racial terms so there's a lot of kindling here for a fire to really take off if calmer heads don't prevail."...

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