DRUG WARS IN BOLIVIA TRAP 40 TOURISTS

THREE British tourists are stranded in northern Bolivia after being
caught up in clashes between coca farmers and government troops
trying to crack down on the drugs trade.

The three Britons are among 40 Western tourists trapped in the remote
Sorata valley, about 60 miles north of the capital, La Paz, for the
past two weeks.

They were caught after farmers blockaded roads out of the valley in
protest at the government's attempts to stop production of the coca
plant, the raw material for cocaine.

Hugh Parker, whose daughter Jessica, 24, is one of the stranded
Britons, said the tourists were "very frightened" after a group of
them tried to get through the blockade and were beaten up.

Mr Parker, who has been in telephone contact with his daughter, said:
"Some of the tourists decided to walk through the barricades but
after some of their number were roughed up and only allowed to
retrace their steps after buying their way out, the others lost
enthusiasm."

The Foreign Office yesterday played down the reports of violence,
insisting that none of the travellers had been harmed.

A spokesman said the tourists had simply been advised to remain put
in the town of Sorata "for their own safety" until the blockade was
lifted.

The British Embassy in La Paz said last night that it hoped the
blockade would soon be ended following negotiations between the
farmers and the government.