Five Protestors Die in Bolivia After President Calls in Troops

[Divernan]

This report is in today's New York Times.
I can't get the cite here - would someone please provide it?

"President Sanchez de Lozada, an American ally, took office in August 2002 after winning only 22.46 percent of the vote. . . .the immediate cause of the unrest is a proposal to export natural gas to the US via a pipeline that would run to a port in Chile.

Oppopnents say Bolivia would benefit more if the gas were used for industrial development in Bolivia. they also strongly object to any role in the project for Chile, a traditional enemy of Bolivia."

Friends of mine just talked to their son two days ago. He is assigned to La Paz for a US agency. The anti-American feelings are so strong in Bolivia, that every US govt. employee there has been told to keep a suitcase packed and ready to be evacuated at any time. This has nothing to do with the US govt. actions in the Middle East, but solely to do with US attempts to take over Bolivia's natural gas resources.

[IndianaGreen]

1. CNN: Bolivia declares martial law in capital suburb

Bolivia declares martial law in capital suburb
Reports: 16 dead in clashes between army, gas protesters
Sunday, October 12, 2003 Posted: 9:18 PM EDT (0118 GMT)

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) -- Bolivia's government imposed martial law on a city outside the capital after clashes between troops and demonstrators angry about proposals to export gas to the United States and Mexico. Sixteen people have been reported killed.

Soldiers manned major intersections Sunday in El Alto, a poor, industrial city 10 miles (16 kilometers) outside the capital, La Paz. But the move didn't stop protesters, who repeatedly clashed with the soldiers and police trying to disperse them.

Roman Catholic priest Asensio Mamani said he saw three people killed in the clashes in his neighborhood, Senakata, on Sunday. Another priest, Modesto Chino, said two demonstrators were also killed in the Ballivian neighborhood.

Those deaths would bring the total killed to 16 in El Alto since the clashes began. The government earlier reported that 11 people had been killed.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/10/12/bolivia.clashes.ap/index.html

[IndianaGreen]

2. BBC: Bolivia clashes kill 13 (pictures too!)

Last Updated: Monday, 13 October, 2003, 08:46 GMT 09:46 UK
Bolivia clashes kill 13

At least 16 people have been killed in Bolivia since peasant farmers began the so-called "war for gas" almost a month ago.

The protesters fear proceeds from the gas will simply enrich foreign companies investing in the project - and what little their country earns will be frittered away or lost to corruption.

The BBC's South America correspondent, Elliott Gotkine, says the protesters are demanding the government nationalise the country's natural gas resources, saying they should be processed in Bolivia to make higher value products.

But President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada's government says the gas issue has been hijacked by members of the opposition whose real agenda is to topple him.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3186570.stm

In pictures: Bolivia clashes

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/photo_gallery/3186172.stm

[IndianaGreen]

3. Here is the NY Times link to the story posted by Divernan

As a result of the protests, in which at least five people had been killed before Sunday, highways around the country are being blocked by peasants and miners armed with sticks of dynamite, and normal commerce has been all but strangled. Here in the capital, gasoline is becoming so scarce that many bus and taxi companies have suspended service.

"The fishermen can't get their trout to market, and the farmers are having to watch their fruits and vegetables rot as they sit at the roadblocks," said Mario Vallejos, a long-distance hauler. "These are poor people, and they are all going broke, so everyone is angry."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/13/international/americas/13BOLI.html

[Divernan]

4. Thanks for posting the link - & other reports.

nt

[IndianaGreen]

5. Thank you for alerting me to what is going on in Bolivia

There are similar problems involving indigenous people brewing in neighboring Peru.