Bolivian Congress backs poll on power industries

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Carlos Mesa, Bolivia's president, has won crucial political
backing for a July referendum aimed at deciding the future
of the country's oil and gas industry.

Congress late on Wednesday voted to provide a
constitutional framework for the referendum, which was
called in April by presidential decree. The country's Senate is
also likely to approve the legislation.

The vote means any challenges to the legitimacy of the
referendum should founder in the constitutional courts. It
will also help consolidate the president's mandate. Mr Mesa
assumed power last October when Gonzalo Sánchez de
Lozada, the elected president, fled the country amid a bloody
popular revolt.

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The questionnaire proposes repealing privatisation
legislation, changing the sector's royalty and taxation
structure, reviving export plans, and giving the state oil
company a bigger role in developing the industry.

Financial Times