BOLIVIA’S ousted president Evo Morales struck a defiant tone today as he denounced opposition leaders Carlos Mesa and Luis Camacho as “racists and coup-plotters” whose orchestration of mass violence had forced him from office.

Mr Morales resigned, alongside Vice-President Alvaro Garcia and senate president Adriana Salvatierra, late on Sunday night after being told to do so by the head of the army, General Williams Kaliman.

He said he was seeking a way to end the violence mounted by opposition supporters following his emphatic re-election as president last month.