President Evo Morales of Bolivia on Wednesday ordered the US ambassador expelled, accusing him of contributing to divisions in the country which the government warned was headed towards "civil war."
Ambassador Philip Goldberg was to be sent an official message from the foreign ministry "informing him of the decision by the national government and its president that he should return to his country at once" and that he was "persona non grata," Morales said.
The move came amid violence in several regions that Morales's spokesman, Ivan Canelas, said were creating conditions for "a sort of civil war."
Anti-government protesters on Tuesday ransacked government offices, and seized oil facilities and three regional airports.
In southeast Bolivia, a gas pipeline was blown up Wednesday in what head of the state energy company YPSL, Santos Ramirez, said was a "terrorist attack" by anti-government protesters.