Emily Jane BeckerAndean Information Networkhttp://www.ain-bolivia.org/December 16, 2007Bolivia’s Constitutional Assembly held a sixteen hour session December 8 and 9 in Oruro, and, according to the assembly members present and the Morales administration, approved the new constitution before the December 14 deadline. However, opposition governors of Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, Tarija, and Cochabamba and opposition and pro-Sucre assembly members have declared the new charter illegal, because they interpret it as an attempt to consolidate power in the executive, and refuse to recognize it. Moreover, the opposition departments will unveil their own "Autonomy Statutes" from December 13-15. In La Paz, President Morales and assembly members will celebrate the approval of the new constitution. These events will likely incur further conflicts unless the opposition and government begin to dialogue. read more