Bolivian President Carlos Mesa, worn down by Indian protests and wrangling over how to develop massive gas reserves, submitted his resignation to Congress on Monday and left opposition lawmakers to decide the fate of his mandate. Congress will most likely meet on Tuesday. Analysts said it could reject the surprise move announced by Mesa on Sunday as an influential indigenous majority's protests to nationalize foreign investments, especially in the gas sector, swelled. In El Alto, a poor and mainly Indian city on the outskirts of the capital, protesters clashed with scores of Mesa supporters throwing rocks. Below in La Paz, thousands filled the presidential palace square and chanted support for Mesa. "I cannot continue to govern besieged by a national blockade that strangles the country," Mesa, a political independent, said in his resignation letter read on television by Presidency Minister Jose Galindo. In recent weeks, protests and highway blockades, including from a regional autonomy movement, have grown. Demonstrators in El Alto have threatened to cut off La Paz's water supply and occupy the international airport. --More 2329 Local Time 2029 GMT
