Although no references to a demontration on 21 April 1998 at the Villa 14 de Setiembre could be found among the sources consulted, the Andean Commission of Jurists (CAJ) reported in April 1998 ongoing confrontations between security forces and coca producers setting up roadblocks in the tropical areas of Cochabamba (trópico de Cochabamba) (Cronología Andina Apr. 1998). On 15 and 16 April 1998 the Bolivian government announced that troops deployed in the areas of Villa Porvenir and Villa 14 de Setiembre were supporting coca crop erradication efforts, and denied that there was a "militarization" of the area, a state of siege or a curfew; journalists and peasants reported detentions and interrogations (ibid.). The CAJ reports that on 21 April 1998, of 52 persons detained during confrontations at the Villa 14 de Setiembre who had been "transferred to the Judicial Technical Police (PTJ) in Cochabamba over the weekend," 32 were released (ibid.).

According to the Bolivian monthly Cocapress, two Bolivian dailies reported on 21 April 1998 that during confrontations between security forces and coca growers in the Villa 14 de Setiembre tear gas was disseminated indiscriminately; men retreated to the hills, leaving women and children in the homes, where police beat, apprehended and dragged away women (Apr. 1998). According to Cocapress, the president of the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights in Bolivia (APDHB) reported by the end of April that the confrontations that had taken place in the area throughout the month had resulted in the death of 9 peasants, 5 disappeared, 61 wounded and more than 100 arrests (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Andean Commission of Jurists (CAJ), Lima. Cronología Andina-Abril 1998. http://www.cajpe.org.pe/cronolog/abrbo2.htm [Accessed 13 Oct. 2000]

Cocapress [La Paz]. Vol. 5, No. 4. 1-30 April 1998. "El Tropico de Cochabamba se Tiñe de Rojo." http://www.cedib.org/publicaciones/cocapress/CP0498.html [Accessed 16 Oct. 2000]

Andean Newsletter [Lima]. 1998.

IRB Databases.

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 1998.

Latin American Regional Reports: Andean Group Report [London]. 1998.

REFWORLD.

World News Connection (WNC).

Internet Websites.

Internet search engines
Note:

This list is not exhaustive. Subject and country-specific publications available at the Resource Centre are not included.