Issue and Opponent: In early September, the government announced its plan to export its national resource: gas. An already economically suffering population was outraged to hear this resource was to be sold outside their state. For a decade, the indigenous people of Bolivia (about 62% of the entire population), have been lightly protesting their lack of rights and economic inequality. President Sanchez de Lozada has continued to repress their cries. In February 2003, the President introduced a direct income tax which outraged the majority of the population. In February, strikes, road blockages, demonstrations, and looting took place in protest of this “mega tax” and the President’s authority. Over 30 individuals died during this time. After the President allowed for the exporting of the natural resource, a “gas war” ensued. Multiple protests and strikes broke out, including a hunger strike occurring after 59 civilians were killed during a public demonstration. Dilemma Action: In October, over 1,500 people participated in hunger strikes that called for the resignation of President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada at 83 different sites across Bolivia. The hunger strikes were organized by Ana María Romero Campero, who also gained favor from the churches who opened their doors to hunger strike pickets. Elsa Guevara, the ranking legislator from one of the government partners (the MIR party), was among the members of parliament who also went on a hunger strike. This hunger strike was one of many protests occurring at the time– all in support of one movement. The shared demands of this movement were to establish “public control over natural resources, a Constituent Assembly to redefine the state, and decolonization of the state’s relationship with indigenous peoples” (Bjork-James, HRP). The President’s initial response was to criminalize longstanding protests. The strikes destroyed the government’s support base within the middle classes and garnered the attention of intergovernmental organizations. Outcomes: On October 17th, President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada resigned as a result of the protests (of which the hunger strikes were one part). Shortly after, he sought exile in the US. The hunger strike was part of a larger campaign demanding Sanchez’s resignation and economic reform.