The Bolivian Gas War preceded the drafting process. The Gas War centered on the controversial decision of the National Revolutionary Movement (MNR) party to export Bolivian natural gas through Chilean ports which had been taken by Chile in the Pacific War of the 1870s. The Gas War came to a head in October 2003 with violent protest throughout the country from various social actors, leaving at least 70 dead. The then President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada ('Goni') resigned and fled to the US. Goni was succeeded by Vice President Carlos Mesa who was forced to step down amid further widespread protest in El Alto, La Paz and Cochabamba in June 2005. This led to the selection of judge Eduardo Rodríguez as head of a caretaker government which provided setting for new elections in December 2005. A number of new parties stepped into the political frame.