Agreement reached on referendum vote

2012-07-05 4

EDIT CONTAINS 4:3 MATERIAL

The Bolivian government say they will go forward with a referendum vote on a controversial highway through the country's Amazonian region after reaching an agreement with the indigenous people who oppose it.

Government officials say two thirds of the local authorities who represent the indigenous people have agreed to the vote.

Still, thousands of demonstrators who have set up camp in downtown La Paz say they're opposed to the referendum and want the government to scrap the plan without a vote.

The planned highway has been a sore spot with President Evo Morales, a leftist and the country's first president of indigenous descent.

Julie Noce, Reuters

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