AFP - After a chilly night camped in front of Bolivia's presidential palace, native leaders on Thursday demanded a face-to-face meeting with President Evo Morales over his government's plan to build a highway through their ancestral homeland.
Nearly 2,000 indigenous people made a triumphant entry into La Paz on Wednesday at the end of a two-month march from the Amazon against the plans for a road through the pristine Isiboro Secure National Park and Indigenous Territory.
The marchers, who set out in August and trekked 600 kilometers (370 miles) from the lowlands high into the plateaus of the Andes, were greeted as heroes as they entered the capital and made their way to Murillo Square and the presidential palace.
The government offered a dialogue for 10:30 am local time (1430 GMT) on Thursday with Communications Minister Ivan Canelasbut, but the protesters said they were only interested in talks only if Morales himself were to attend.
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