from Cuba News
>
> La Paz, Oct 21 (Prensa Latina) The Bolivian Government and the
> Ombudsman''s Office are currently investigating the causes and
> people involved in a clash between coca growers and anti-drug agents
> that resulted in injuries to 27 people and the taking of eight
> hostages.
>
> The incident occurred on Saturday, when farmers from the northern
> town of Apolo ambushed a group of Joint-Task-Force soldiers
> preparing to eradicate excess crops of coca leaves in that area, 442
> kilometers from La Paz.
>
> The Ombudsman's Office confirmed that a commission had been assigned
> to the locality to analyze the situation, while the Government
> (Interior) Ministry reported that it would verify with Peruvian
> authorities the supposed participation of drug traffickers from that
> country in the clash.
>
> After the death of a soldier on Saturday, the Ministry reported the
> death of a policeman on Sunday afternoon as a result of the wounds
> suffered and denounced the coca growers seizure of eight soldiers as
> hostages.
>
> Government Minister Carlos Romero said the ambush on the agents was
> premeditated and supported by foreigners.
>
> The coca growers told the local station Radio Fides that the clash
> was a resistance measure, in the face of police abuse.
>
> Although Bolivia defends cultivation of coca as a tradition and way
> of life for the Andean people, it fights excess crops, due to the
> danger that they will be used to make cocaine and not as the leaf
> has been traditionally used for generations.
>
> Bolivian legislation recognizes 12,000 hectares of coca crops for
> chewing, infusions or Andean religious rituals, as legal.
>
> According to official data, Bolivia eradicated more than 9,000
> hectares of illegal coca plantations this year, and as many as
> 25,300 hectares in 2012.
>
> According to the UN, coca crops in 2005 occupied 25,400 hectares of
> this nation, but the figure reached 27,500 in 2006, increasing to
> 28,900 in 2007, to 30,500 in 2008, and to 30,900 in 2009.
>
> The crop reached 31,000 in 2010, decreasing to 27,200 in 2011.
Shane Mage
"Thunderbolt steers all things." Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr. 64