Bolivians celebrate in streets after their president resigns

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada resigned Friday, his government collapsing after weeks of deadly protests set off by a plan to export natural gas to the United States. Bolivians poured into the streets to celebrate his exit.

Congress formally accepted the resignation late Friday. The legislators were expected to name Vice President Carlos Mesa to replace him, as called for under Bolivia's constitution. A former television reporter, Mesa is a political independent and a respected historian.

As word of the resignation spread, thousands turned out in La Paz to celebrate. Explosions boomed over the old Spanish colonial buildings as miners in hard hats lit sticks of dynamite, amid cheering by students, peasants, laborers and other opponents of Sanchez de Lozada."He's gone! He's gone," Indian women in bowler hats chanted alongside men and children.

The 73-year-old president submitted his resignation in a letter to Congress, said an aide, speaking on condition of anonymity. Sanchez de Lozada then left the presidential residence in a helicopter for the western city of Santa Cruz, according to radio reports. They said he would eventually travel to the United States, but that could not be independently confirmed.

Mesa was expected to be named interim president later, though it was unclear what mandate he would have or how much political support. The elected term was until 2007.

The resignation came after thousands of Bolivians marched through La Paz for a fifth straight day Friday, demanding Sanchez de Lozada step down 14 months into his second term. Columns of students, Indians and miners brandishing sticks of dynamite threaded past street barricades, shouting, "We will not stop until he's gone!"

On a day when pandemonium ruled the La Paz streets, military planes airlifted hundreds of stranded foreigners from Bolivia's capital.

The U.S. military dispatched an assessment team to Bolivia on Friday to determine if plans need to be updated for protecting or evacuating the American embassy, a military spokesman said.

The team of fewer than six military experts will assess the situation on Bolivia's streets and recommend possible changes to the embassy's evacuation and protection plans, said Army Lt. Col. Bill Costello, a spokesman for U.S. Southern Command.

On Thursday, the U.S. State Department warned Americans to defer travel to Bolivia.

The popular outrage against the president was sparked by a controversial proposal to export gas to the United States and Mexico through neighboring Chile.