BOLIVIA: Police crack down on anti-government protest; one dead, dozens missing say protesters

Record ID: 644435

  • Title: BOLIVIA: Police crack down on anti-government protest; one dead, dozens missing say protesters
  • Date: 27th September 2011
  • Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (SEPTEMBER 25, 2011) (REUTERS ) JOURNALISTS FILMING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ROLANDO VILLENA, BOLIVIAN OMBUDSMAN, SAYING: "I also want to regret and condemn the attitude assumed by authorities who gave the order to use force, to fire tear gas and to use violence in which mothers and children who've never experienced being tear gassed have had to lament violent acts. Injured children, disappeared mothers who didn't want to separate from their children-- this does not talk well about our democracy. This is not democracy."
  • Embargoed: 12th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABTSCXJ5UQ4Q1SRX7YZT3SQDT
  • Story Text: Bolivian indigenous leaders say that a 3-month-old baby is dead and dozens of protesters were missing after police cracked down on activists participating in a month-old protest march against a government highway plan through their rainforest reserve.
    Dozens of riot police wielding batons chased down protesters and beat them to the ground in the Yucumo, a small town outside of the capital city of La Paz. Police taped protesters' mouths shut and tied their arms behind their backs before loading them on the back of pick-up vehicles.
    The indigenous protesters, many of whom were women and children, have been marching for a month from their Amazon homeland to La Paz against a proposed highway that they say will put an end to their lifestyle of hunting and fishing in the protected rainforest.
    Bolivian ombudsman Rolando Villena condemned the government intervention.
    "I make a forceful and very firm call to cease the violence. We're currently in the rule of law and, after having made every effort to have a plurinational state, what occurred today with the use of excessive force puts our democracy at risk," he said.
    Representatives from the protest groups issued a list of 37 people, including 7 children and 2 protest leaders, whose whereabouts are unknown since they were taken away by police. Five indigenous senators of Morales' MAS (Movement to Socialism) party were also reportedly detained by authorities.
    The Bolivian government has refused to comment on the situation.
    The $420 million dollar road, to be built by Brazilian company OAS and largely financed by Brasilia, would stretch 185 miles (300 km), linking the plains of Beni to Chapare.
    It pits Amazon tribes against coca growers who have been encroaching on the region and stand to benefit from the road.
    Bolivian President Evo Morales, the country's first indigenous president, started his political career as a coca grower activist in the region.
    If built, the road would pass through the Isiboro Secure indigenous territory and national park.
    Indigenous people accuse Morales of betraying them. In June, the Bolivian president angered activists after he said the highway project would continue whether they liked it or not.
    The demonstrations are threatening to divide Morales' base, putting him on the defensive ahead of nationwide judicial elections next month.
    Several former members of Morales' government have taken sides with the indigenous people.
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