>>So, our president decided to go on hunger strike. Come to think of it, this isn't the first time a president (an active president, that is - not a former president) goes on hunger strike in this country - although I don't remember too many details about the previous case.
>>
>>See, for example, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7993274.stm
>
>Wow, Bolivia is not on the list of third world countries in terms of political rights and civil liberties, human development, poverty, press freedom, gni, or education. I guess someone needs to update the list. Obviously he missed an education if his only means of negotiation is a hunger strike.

Well, I hardly think this is his "only means of negotiation" - just his latest strategy or whatever.

> How long do these temper tantrums last? Is he getting public support? Is the public mostly uneducated?

He does have a relatively large support. Less than when he got elected, I believe, but still enough to get his new constitution through, for example.

As to the last question, a large part of the population are indeed uneducated, and ppor. Bolivia has some 9M people; of these, perhaps 2-3M are said to be "economically active", meaning the others should not be considered in market studies, since they are subsistence farmers that won't buy cars, cell phones, Internet access, processed food, or whatever.

Millions of people in Bolivia can't communicate in the Spanish language. A greater weight is now given to indigenous languages, but I am not sure yet whether this is actually working or not.