Bolivians gird for violence as president unveils economic measures.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Kevin G. Hall

LA PAZ, Bolivia _ Appealing for calm and asking for sacrifice, Bolivian President Carlos Mesa on Sunday unveiled austerity measures designed to right a listing ship of state as average Bolivians braced for potential violence and perhaps the fall of another leader.

Mesa's pre-recorded television address to the Andean nation came as radical leaders of labor and indigenous groups threatened a return to the violence that left at least 56 dead and toppled former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada last October. Mesa, an apolitical television commentator, was his vice president and assumed the presidency warning he would step aside if any more blood is shed.

With 191 coups or revolutions in its 178 years as a republic, Bolivia is the poorest nation in South America and a tinderbox. The slightest provocation, real or perceived, may push the country over the edge and into new social unrest. In La Paz over the weekend, residents stocked up on food, water and cooking gas amid fears that violence may come in days.

In the Sunday night speech, Mesa backed away from expected immediate fuel tax hikes and an end to subsidized cooking gas for the poor. Instead, he would free government-controlled prices over time, allowing for a gradual price hike of up to 6 percent depending on domestic and international price factors.

Mesa announced an across the board 5 percent cut in government spending, said he would cut his salary by 10 percent and that of congress by 5 percent. Bolivian lawmakers on salary alone make more than $2,000 month while the majority of the poor earn a basic monthly wage of about $50-$60. Mesa promised to eliminate congressional perks that inflate salaries as high as $5,000 a month.

Playing to nationalist sentiment, Mesa promised to reserve government purchases of up to $1.1 million for Bolivian companies. That measure appears designed to deflect attention from the planned export of Bolivia's vast and untapped natural gas.