Kidnapped Bolivian Government Ministers Released

Kidnapped Bolivian government ministers released

AFP

19th April 2006

LA PAZ - Three Bolivian ministers, taken hostage in the border town of Puerto Suarez by local officials who want the government to approve a Brazilian company’s mining project in the area, have been released by the army, officials said on Wednesday.

The ministers were rescued and taken to a secure location, government spokesman Wilfredo Chavez said, without providing specific details on how the three officials were released.

Defense Minister Walker San Miguel late Tuesday identified the officials as Minister of Planning and Development Carlos Villegas, Minister of Economic Development Celinda Sosa and Minister of Mining and Metals Walter Villarroel.

San Miguel at the time demanded “the immediate release” of his colleagues, who had traveled to Puerto Suarez in a bid to avert an indefinite strike the townspeople had announced for after midnight on Tuesday.