Bolivia: cocaleros clash with indigenous people

Indigenous people and coca-growers clashed over control of land in a national park in northern Bolivia Sept. 27, leaving one dead. Indigenous groups that have land rights in the remote Isiboro National Park, Beni department, have long complained that hundreds of coca-growers have been clearing forests inside their territory. “As a result of the clashes between Yuracare Indians [and] the illegal settlers that are illegally growing coca in their territory, a person was killed, presumably an Indian, and three more were injured,” deputy interior minister Marcos Farfan was reported as saying by state news agency ABI. (Reuters, Sept. 27)

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