By PAOLA FLORES
Soldiers stand around the coffin of Bolivian soldier Oscar Gironda during a wake at the military barracks in La Paz, Bolivia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013. A group of locals armed with rifles and knives attacked police and soldiers who were destroying illegal coca crops in the community of Miraflores, near the town of Apolo, 150 km. ( 90 miles ) north of La Paz killing a police officer, an army lieutenant and injuring at least 20 others, authorities said. It is believed to be the first fatal attack on a coca eradication team since Evo Morales, a coca-growers’ union leader, was elected president nearly eight years ago. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — A police officer on Sunday became the second member of a government eradication squad to die of gunshot wounds from an ambush by coca growers, who authorities said hold eight squad members hostage.
Ten more members of the joint military-police team suffered gunshot wounds and 10 were injured by blows in Saturday’s attack in a rural area of the remote municipality of Apolo, about 90 miles north of La Paz, Interior Minister Carlos Romero said.
It was the first fatal attack on a coca eradication team since Evo Morales, a coca growers union leader, was first elected president nearly eight years ago.
A bullet perforated the stomach and pancreas of the police officer who died Sunday, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. It said the army lieutenant who died Saturday suffered a gunshot wound that pierced a lung.
A local coca grower leader, Gregario Cari, told The Associated Press by phone that security forces had attacked with tear gas and gunshots. Cari said the growers were only trying to protect their crops.
“I have information that the comrades were provoked,” Cari said. He said the growers took the hostages for their own security and were seeking dialogue to prevent “confrontation.”
Bolivia’s government considers two-thirds of its coca crop to be legal and dedicated to traditional uses. But it dispatches joint military-police teams to eradicate unapproved coca fields, and the official in charge of the effort, Felipe Caceres, said more than 35 square miles have been destroyed so far this year.
U.S. officials say tons of Bolivian coca leaves are being processed into cocaine, whose main destination is Brazil, Argentina and Europe.
Morales rose to prominence as a leader of the six coca-growing federations of the Chapare region of central Bolivia. Critics say he favors coca growers in the Chapare over those in other regions where the eradication campaign is concentrated.
Morales expelled the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2008, accusing it of inciting political opposition.
The U.S. government says the result has been a rise in cocaine trafficking and related violence in Bolivia that is fueled by official corruption. Effective this month, it halted all counter-narcotics aid to the Bolivian government.
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Associated Press writer Frank Bajak in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.
