TROOPS, COCA LEAF GROWERS CLASH IN BOLIVIA

VILLA TUNARI, Bolivia, Sept 21 (AFP) -

Soldiers and riot police sought to regain control of Bolivia's main
highway Thursday, using force to dismantle road blocks erected by coca
leaf growers protesting government policies, including plans to build
military bases in the heart of the coca-growing region.

Three people were injured in the latest confrontations which began
around 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT) between some 600 troops, brought in to
clear the highway at Villa Tunari, some 600 kilometers (370 miles) east
of La Paz, and the thousands of unionized coca leaf growers who have
gathered here since Monday.

Union leader Feliciano Mamani suffered severe injury to his leg and
foot as doctors at the local hospital recommended his transfer to
Cochabamba for specialized surgery. A witness said troops had "fired
on" Mamani as he fled.

Mamani said troops had fired on him with army-issue bullets.

The violent clashes between troops and civilians occurred near a bridge
over the Espiritu Santo river, at a point where coca growers have a
strong presence, and close to where troops had set up camp the previous
night.

The bridge links Tunari with Chimori -- the Bolivian anti-drug forces'
main army base in the Chapare region, the key area for cultivation of
the coca leaf, the main ingredient in the production of cocaine.

The coca growers are determined to reverse their government's anti-drug
policies, which include a partnership with the United States to
eliminate all coca plantations from Bolivia by the end of President
Hugo Banzer's mandate in August 2002.

The policy to force Bolivian farmers to abandon their traditional crop
also involves a plan for US financing of three military bases here.

As many as 1,000 army personnel and police brought in late Wednesday in
some 50 vehicles, regained control of Villa Tunari itself at about 8:00
p.m., following a 20-minute teargas attack against as many as 15,000
protesters here.

Wednesday's assault had left three others injured, including a soldier
and a journalist, as many of the coca growers, who are led by leftist
lawmaker Evo Morales, fought back using sticks and stones.

Troops had managed to clear only a short distance along the road,
however, which protesters had covered in rocks. It is a key highway
connecting three of Bolivia's principal cities.

A representative of the Ombudsman, Godofredo Reinicek, told AFP the
troops' intervention to remove roadblocks constituted "an attack
against human rights."

At least 300 kilometers (190 miles) of road linking La Paz, Cochabamba
and Santa Cruz have been affected by the blockade, some 160 kilometers
(100 miles) of which the army had managed to penetrate Wednesday.

Rural leaders said, however, that rocks and rubble were thrown back on
to the road after the troops passed through.

Observers warned President Hugo Banzer that a situation similar to the
April riots over water prices that led to a 12-day siege, and saw six
people killed and at least 70 injured, was in the making.

The coca leaf growers' main representative Morales said he anticipated
fierce confrontations around the towns of Centrales Unidas and Villa
Tunari.

"That's where the worst of the clashes will be," he predicted earlier
after Interior Minister Guillermo Fortun said the military would
intervene.

"This will only result in confrontation. It's like an invitation to
violence, it's fatal. It could cause a bloodbath."