I won't go down that road any longer," said Mr Mesa.The opposition MAS, which earned 19 per cent of the vote at the last elections, countered saying that Mr Mesa was "blackmailing the country".Bolivia is heavily reliant on foreign aid and hopes for an economic turnaround are pinned on developing vast gas reserves, thought to be the second largest in Latin America.The one-time television commentator, Mr Mesa, took office in 2003 after violent protests against plans to export gas through traditional foe Chile - the "gas war" - saw 67 people killed and prompted Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozado to flee.A regional analyst, Mark Schneider, from the International Crisis Group, said Bolivia was facing its "greatest crisis" in years. Analysts expressed the hope that opposition lawmakers in Congress would reject his offer at today's session.The former historian pointed the finger of blame for the crisis at Evo Morales, a coca farmer and leader of the populist Movement to Socialism (MAS), who he accused of turning the landlocked nation of 8 million into a "country of ultimatums".Mr Morales has led calls for a blockade stretching to every corner of the remote and isolated Andean country unless the government raises taxes on foreign energy companies exporting oil and gas to 50 per cent. With Bolivia's coca leaf cultivation soaring, the heavy-handed tactics of the US-led war on drugs has fuelled increasing social unrest. "He's spent a life in which he's tried to be noble."He tried to treat journalism as a public calling and, as he said, speak truth to power. Is that all going to get washed away by the events of 8 September [when the Guard story aired]? Anyone would worry about that and he is.". Bolivia was in crisis last night after its besieged President, Carlos Mesa, stepped down in response to protests over the exploitation of natural resources that has brought Latin America's poorest country to a virtual standstill. His last appearance will be followed by an hour-long primetime special recalling all the stories that he has reported.
Doubtless, it will emphasise what Rather himself is most proud of: that instead of simply presenting world events from the studio he often took the programme on the road, playing reporter as much as presenter."Morale is not very good right now," conceded Bob Schieffer, another CBS veteran who will take over from Rather on Thursday, until the bosses have decided what to do with the news show in the longer run. Acknowledging that milk was spilt with the Bush story, Schieffer said: "Our credibility was hurt. For days, CBS and Rather took a defensive stance but eventually an internal report condemned the segment. Three senior staffers were fired or resigned and Rather's reputation was badly tarnished.Laced through the atmosphere of regret is the widely accepted truth that CBS News is not what it used to be, especially in the days of Rather's predecessor, Walter Cronkite. For several years now, the CBS Evening News has lagged in third place behind NBC and ABC in the ratings.
Its network of foreign bureaux is a shadow of its former self.The low point for Rather may have come with a profile in The New Yorker magazine last week by the respected media observer Ken Auletta, which included uncharitable remarks from other CBS veterans. Cronkite, 88, said he didn't like to watch Rather and usually chose the competition and Mike Wallace, another old hand on 60 Minutes, tartly described Rather as "uptight" and "occasionally contrived".The network is doing its best to give Rather a grand send-off. Documents on which it was based were quickly revealed to be forged. His 40-year career at CBS has been clouded by one mistake: a presidential campaign segment aired last September on 60 Minutes Wednesday, a news magazine.The story, presented by Rather, trumpeted evidence that President Bush received preferential treatment to shirk National Guard duty during the Vietnam era. CBS News executives are bracing themselves for an awkward changing of the guard tomorrow night, when the veteran news anchor Dan Rather, arguably the most experienced newsman in America, makes his last appearance after 24 years in the chair of the network's flagship evening news programme. The transition will not be smooth - no permanent successor has yet been appointed - nor are recent circumstances allowing him to bow out with much grace. Rather, a veteran of stories dating back to the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963, is departing as much a villain as a hero.Critics of Rather, 73, who have long accused him of liberal bias, will cheer to see him go But for his admirers, there is sadness. The 13-year-old has been charged with murder, elder abuse, burglary and car theft.