Pubdate: Thu, 21 Feb 2002
Source: Daily Telegraph (UK)
Copyright: 2002 Telegraph Group Limited
Contact:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/114
Author: Matt Born

DRUG WARS IN BOLIVIA TRAP 40 TOURISTS

THREE British tourists are stranded in northern Bolivia after being 
caught up in clashes between coca farmers and government troops 
trying to crack down on the drugs trade.

The three Britons are among 40 Western tourists trapped in the remote 
Sorata valley, about 60 miles north of the capital, La Paz, for the 
past two weeks.

They were caught after farmers blockaded roads out of the valley in 
protest at the government's attempts to stop production of the coca 
plant, the raw material for cocaine.

Hugh Parker, whose daughter Jessica, 24, is one of the stranded 
Britons, said the tourists were "very frightened" after a group of 
them tried to get through the blockade and were beaten up.

Mr Parker, who has been in telephone contact with his daughter, said: 
"Some of the tourists decided to walk through the barricades but 
after some of their number were roughed up and only allowed to 
retrace their steps after buying their way out, the others lost 
enthusiasm."

The Foreign Office yesterday played down the reports of violence, 
insisting that none of the travellers had been harmed.

A spokesman said the tourists had simply been advised to remain put 
in the town of Sorata "for their own safety" until the blockade was 
lifted.

The British Embassy in La Paz said last night that it hoped the 
blockade would soon be ended following negotiations between the 
farmers and the government.
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MAP posted-by: Josh