The Gas War came to a head in October 2003 with violent protest throughout the country from various social actors, leaving at least 70 dead.
Goni was succeeded by Vice President Carlos Mesa who was forced to step down amid further widespread protest in El Alto, La Paz and Cochabamba in June 2005.
This led to the selection of judge Eduardo Rodríguez as head of a caretaker government which provided setting for new elections in December 2005.
Evo Morales' MAS party was elected and began implementing its 'October Agenda', a set of social movement demands stemming from The Gas War.
Eventually, having failed to reach an agreement in Sucre - often amid violent protest or else stalemate - the MAS party were forced to retreat to Oruro to finalise the Constitution.
[5] Therefore, there was an ongoing process of renegotiation: this included dialogue in Cochabamba between the President and opposition Prefects in September 2008; and in Congress during negotiations for a referendum in October 2008.
Direct and participatory democracy takes place through referendums, citizen legislative initiatives, revocation of elected officials' mandates, assemblies, cabildos and prior consultation.
Communal democracy takes place through the "election, designation or nomination of authorities and representatives" among indigenous, originary, or campesino peoples and nations, using their own norms and procedures.
Nonetheless the Palacio Quemado (the Presidential Palace and seat of Bolivian executive power) is located in La Paz, as are the National Congress and Plurinational Electoral Organ.
The 2009 Constitution of Bolivia states that the country has an unrenounceable right over the territory that gives it access to the Pacific Ocean and its maritime space.
The state of Bolivia declares its indispensable and irreversible right over the territories that give it access to the Pacific Ocean and its maritime space.
II.The effective solution to the maritime problem is to be carried out by peaceful means and the exercise of sovereignty over said territory, constitutes permanent objectives and indispensable ones of the Bolivian State.
They are: An analysis by Minister of Autonomy Carlos Romero estimates that at least 106 laws must be approved to fully implement the new constitution.