BOLIVIAN President Evo Morales said today that he would convene new elections as a bid to reduce tensions after riots by opposition forces seeking to stage “mutinies” in cities across the country.

In what his allies called an “attempted coup,” protesters forced police to retreat to their barracks in at least three cities, while some officers abandoned their posts and joined opposition crowds. In parts of the capital La Paz, pro- and anti-Morales marches clashed, with police reporting about 30 injuries.

Mr Morales called on officers to “preserve security” and invited the four opposition parties with the most votes to sit down together and arrive at “an open agenda to pacify Bolivia.”