UPDATE 2-Bolivian opposition leaders rally as violence flares

A Bolivian protest leader will make a second attempt to reach La Paz on Wednesday to demand President Evo Morales step down, a gambit which has sparked a fierce backlash from government supporters while helping rally a split opposition. Luis Fernando Camacho, a civic leader from the eastern city of Santa Cruz, has said he would travel to the capital's main airport in nearby El Alto, with plans to deliver a pre-written letter of resignation for Morales, following a contentious election the leftist leader won last month.

Camacho, who has become a figurehead for the opposition, has already attempted to reach La Paz, but was barred from leaving the airport in El Alto for several hours on Tuesday as government supporters massed outside. An air force plane later returned him to Santa Cruz. The new attempt is likely to stoke tensions following weeks of long protests and strikes since the Oct. 20 vote. Hostilities have ramped up since Tuesday night in La Paz and Cochabamba with clashes between Morales supporters and the opposition.

A Reuters reporter at the airport in Santa Cruz was unable to confirm Camacho had boarded a plane by 4 pm local time (2000 GMT), though Carlos Mesa, the runner-up in the October election, was at the El Alto airport waiting for Camacho to arrive. "I am here to receive Mr. Camacho and express our solidarity and support for his basic right of free movement and his right to petition," said Mesa, who has repeatedly raised allegations of fraud against Morales and called for new elections.

"I think this is a fundamental moment for the opposition that believes in a democratic response and a peaceful way out." BOLIVIANS VS BOLIVIANS

With little sign of a political solution, the standoff has worsened. On Wednesday, newspaper headlines decried the violence and pointed to an economic cost of $167 million. "Bolivians against Bolivians" read the front page of one local daily. Wilfredo Chavez, vice minister of public safety, said in a television interview that the government was installing a "larger contingent of police" to control the situation at the El Alto airport if Camacho returned.

"If the gentleman comes we will take every measure to ensure his passage," Chavez said. A Reuters reporter saw a large number of police wearing protective gear and carrying riot shields arriving at the airport earlier on Wednesday. Morales won last month's vote with a lead of just over 10 points over main rival Carlos Mesa, handing him an outright win and avoiding a second-round runoff. The victory, however, was marred by a near 24-hour halt in the count, which, when resumed, showed a sharp and unexplained shift in Morales' favor.

International governments have called for calm and are backing an audit of the election by the Organization of American States (OAS), which has recommended that a second round vote go ahead. Morales has agreed the audit will be "binding," but many in the opposition are now demanding his removal. Since the vote many cities have gone into lockdown with daily marches and road blocks. Camacho earlier this week called for people to blockade public institutions and the country's borders in order to hit government incomes.

Benjamín Blanco, a senior trade official, said on Wednesday that borders with Peru, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil near the municipality of Epitaciolandia had been affected with hundreds of trucks being stopped. Morales has defended his election win and said that the opposition is trying to lead a "coup" against him and that his rivals were inciting violence. The opposition has maintained allegations of electoral fraud.

In a justice ministry bulletin on Wednesday, Minister Héctor Arce said that United Nations would send a commission to the country to look into human rights abuses, including the incitement to violence by opposition groups.