UN to Offer Election Assistance to Bolivia

The United Nations has agreed to send an election assistance team to Bolivia to see how the world body can help prepare for general elections in December.

The U.N. announcement was made Friday, one day after Bolivia's caretaker President Eduardo Rodriguez signed a series of bills calling for the elections on December 4. The next president is slated to serve from 2006 to 2010.

A statement by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says the United Nations is committed to helping Bolivia carry out the elections, and is sending a team there in the coming days at the invitation of the country's election council.

Mr. Rodriguez assumed power June 9 after former President Carlos Mesa quit amid violent protests calling for early elections. He was the second president in two years to be ousted after protests over distribution of Bolivia's gas reserves.

Some information for this report provided by Reuters.