Bolivia: A Call to Revolution

As three jet fighters and a lone helicopter flew overhead, some 300 troops backed by armored cars fanned out through the streets of La Paz last week. Another coup in a country that has seen 189 governments overthrown since its founding in 1825? Not this time. The sweep was ordered by President Hernan Siles Suazo as a twelve-day-old general strike, which had already crippled transport and commerce, threatened to push the nation into anarchy. Declared Siles: "Tolerance and patience have a limit."

The troubles began early this month when tin miners walked off their jobs, calling for higher wages. Other workers...