Since winning re-election by a landslide in December 2009, Morales has been under mounting pressure from both ends of the spectrum of Bolivian society -- the wealthier elites in the east and the impoverished indigenous population in the west -- as well as from traditional political rivals. They are pushing the administration to institute labor reform, increase wages, improve security, keep prices of basic household necessities like food and gas in check and develop infrastructure.

Although many of these lines of tension have long been present in Bolivia, the scale and scope of the internal strife that has taken hold of the country so far this year have been surprising.

Data published Dec. 27, 2010, by Iberobarometro, a leading pollster in the region, showed that Bolivians were generally happy with Morales' leadership. Fifty-six percent approved of the president, and Bolivians were fifth in the region in terms of satisfaction with their country's direction, behind only Uruguay, Chile, Brazil and Venezuela. 

    

Two days later, Morales lost most of this goodwill with the announcement that his government would increase fuel prices by 80 percent. The move sparked some of the most severe protests of his administration's tenure and led to mass civil unrest nationwide, paralyzing transportation throughout the country until Morales revoked the decree. Within weeks, polls put his approval rating at 30 percent, among the lowest in the hemisphere. 

The fallout from the "gasolinazo," as the protests were called, marked a low for Morales, who entered 2010 riding a wave of popular support. His approval ratings hovered around 70 percent, with dissenting pockets mostly isolated in the eastern part of the country. 

Yet even before the recent unrest, there were cracks beneath the surface.

The first signs appeared in April 2010 with the election of opposition candidates in mayoral races in Sucre and La Paz, the latter a traditional Morales stronghold. One month later, in May 2010, members of the Bolivian Workers Union began a series of protests demanding higher wages. What began as a 24-hour demonstration in La Paz by a group of laborers dragged into a weeklong series of strikes by other factions, including teachers, miners, nurses and other unions.  

The strikes were significant in that they marked the end of what up until then had been a harmonious relationship between the president and the country's powerful labor unions. In August 2010, Morales faced further protests in Oruro, Potosi and Uyuni provinces in the country's southwest, as residents demanded infrastructure projects. On Feb. 10, Morales was forced to leave what was supposed to have been a political rally of his supporters in Oruro due to civil unrest over rising sugar prices. 

Despite the heightened discontent, questions surrounding Morales' grip on power may be premature. Public protest and social unrest are common forms of dissent in Bolivian politics. The frequency and tone of these protests, while significant for Morales, are not unlike the challenges that Bolivian presidents have faced throughout the country's history. 

Nor are they even the most severe of Morales' administration. In 2008, dozens died in clashes between Morales' supporters and opponents in the country's eastern provinces. Those protests covered half the nation's territory and lasted for more than a month before a tense peace was re-established. 

Moreover, the Bolivian opposition is divided and under constant attack from Morales and his party. In spite of key victories for opposition candidates in gubernatorial and mayoral races in April, there is no unified coalition opposing Morales' popular Movement Toward Socialism party. Many opposition leaders also face unrelenting pressure from the executive. Morales has consistently harassed La Paz's mayor, Luis Revilla, most recently prohibiting him from leaving Bolivia and forcing him to pay a fine of $15,000 for misusing public funds, charges that Revilla denied. The mayors of Sucre and Potosi, both from opposition parties, have also found themselves in legal trouble. 

In an attempt to draw attention away from the protests, Morales announced in January that all 17 leading ministers in his cabinet would resign. He made a similar move, although on a smaller scale, in 2008 during the violent protests in the east. Yet, unlike the protests of 2008, the new unrest in Bolivia has a different, less political tone that the ministers' resignations are unlikely to address: Bolivians want higher wages, lower levels of unemployment and more accessible food and fuel prices. If Morales is unable to meet these demands satisfactorily, the protests are likely to continue and even gather steam, further eroding his popularity and political base.  

**Eliot Brockner is a Latin America analyst for iJET Intelligent Risk Systems. He is a regular contributor to LatAmThought.