Bolivia's Congress has named Supreme Court President Eduardo Rodriguez the country's president in a move designed to end weeks of protests and bring early elections.
President Carlos Mesa resigned after three weeks of blockades by the poor Indian majority, who called for nationalisation of energy reserves and a special assembly to grant them more power.
Protests caused fuel and food shortages in La Paz and stoked fears of violence in South America's poorest nation.
Lawmakers, who abandoned earlier attempts to vote amid violent protests, held a brief late-night session after Senate President Hormando Vaca Diez declined to assume the presidency.
The constitution allowed him to replace Mr Mesa, but he faced growing opposition from Indian leaders and many Bolivians demanded elections.
Mr Rodriguez, who will be a caretaker president who must call elections, is a lawyer with a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University.
The naming of Mr Rodriguez as president was a key demand for protesters in the militant city of El Alto, a sprawling poor area in the mountains above La Paz, who had vowed to maintain their blockades.