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4 Police Lynched, Linares Admits Government Has Lost Control of Uncía

The bodies of four Bolivian policemen who were tortured and then lynched in an area of Potosí near the Chilean border have still not been returned to the grieving families and Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera admitted on May 28th that the government has “temporarily lost control of the municipality of Uncia” where indigenous people from five Aymara Ayllus (tribes) have confessed to lynching the police. The leaders of the five “warrior ayllus” admitted to lynching the police but declared that they were just criminals wearing police uniforms because they were extorting and killing local civilians. The warrior ayllus are known to possess numerous firearms and led a small scale uprising in 2000-2001 in which over 50 people were killed. The five ayllus met after the lynching and swore everyone to silence regarding the event and further declared the muncipality of Uncia as a “red zone” in which no police or government officials were allowed to enter. Vice President Linera asked to ayllus to return to the bodies of the tortured and lynched police officers and stated that an investigation into the 4 police deaths would be launched as would an investigation into the operations of the police units in the area. It is unclear at this point exactly why the four police were killed by the villagers. The villagers claim that the police were corrupt and abusing the widespread trade in black market or “chuto” automobiles crossing the area from Chile. However local police chief Orlando Ávila claimed that the killings were an act of vengeance after the police burned a cocaine laboratory in the area. Ávila explained that the crime scene is heavily guarded by locals with automatic weapons and that no government officials can enter the area. The situation was further inflamed by the fact that two police from a nearby town in Potosí were arrested last week for raping a local 18 year old girl. “The investigation will shed new light on the rumors that the police have been corrupt and if it is so, there will be widespread disciplinary actions on police officers.” Meanwhile the catholic priest in charge of the Uncía diocese, Miguel Alvino, called for the military to be sent in to quell the armed rebellion. The government has promised to restore order to the area but has ruled out an invasion by force at this time and is seeking to negotiate with the five ayllus for the return of the 4 police corpses.

To learn more in Spanish see:

http://www.erbol.com.bo/noticia.php?identificador=2147483929302

http://www.erbol.com.bo/noticia.php?identificador=2147483929193

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