Carlos Mesa
| Carlos Mesa | |
|---|---|
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Carlos Mesa in Guatemala City (2014)
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| 78th President of Bolivia | |
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In office 17 October 2003 – 6 June 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada |
| Succeeded by | Eduardo Rodríguez |
| Vice President of Bolivia | |
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In office 6 August 2002 – 17 October 2003 |
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| President | Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada |
| Preceded by | Jorge Quiroga Ramírez |
| Succeeded by | Álvaro García Linera |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Carlos Diego Mesa Gisbert August 12, 1953 La Paz, Bolivia |
| Nationality | Bolivian |
| Political party | no party affiliation |
| Spouse(s) | Elvira Salinas de Mesa |
| Alma mater | Complutense University of Madrid, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés |
Carlos Diego Mesa Gisbert (born August 12, 1953) is a Bolivian historian and former politician. He was Vice President of Bolivia from August 2002 to October 2003 and then became President, holding office from October 17, 2003 until his resignation on June 6, 2005. Mesa had previously been a television journalist. His widespread recognition prompted the MNR candidate Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada to pick him as running mate in the 2002 Bolivian presidential elections. The winning ticket of Sánchez-Mesa took possession on August 6, 2002. As Vice-President, Mesa was quickly put into a difficult situation when a wave of protests and strikes shut down Bolivia in a bitter dispute known as the Bolivian Gas War. The demonstrations eventually forced Sánchez de Lozada to resign and leaving Mesa as President of the Republic.
Mesa is currently a Bolivian spokesman in the case Obligation to Negotiate Access to the Pacific Ocean in the International Court of Justice. He is also a member of Washington D.C. based think tank the Inter-American Dialogue.
That year and eight months after assuming office, Mesa found himself, like president Sanchez de Lozada, under the same extreme internal and external political pressures over the use of Bolivia's 1.5 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, estimated to be worth billions of dollars (USD). Without political alliances, gave him popular support to summon an Asamblea Constituyente, Referendum of hydrocarbons and Referendum for regional autonomies.
After a resurgence of Gas protests in 2005, on March 6, 2005, after weeks of new street protests from organizations accusing Mesa of bowing to U.S. corporate interests, Mesa offered his resignation to Congress. Unanimously, the Congress rejected the presidential resignation. On June 6, 2005 the President offered his final resignation, which was unanimously accepted by the Congress. In June 9, 2005 the Congress sworn as interim president the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Eduardo Rodríguez.
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