Bolivian ministers freed

[Bacchus39]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/04/19/bolivia.hostages.ap/index.html




LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) -- Blocking roads for days on end, marching, setting off dynamite and holding hunger strikes -- it's an almost daily ritual for Bolivians pressuring the government.

But authorities quickly called in military and police forces to free three government ministers Wednesday morning. Angry civic leaders had held the Cabinet members hostage overnight in Puerto Suarez on the Brazilian border 714 miles (1,150 kilometers) east of the Bolivian capital of La Paz.

"The residents received us with rocks and bottles, but there were no major problems," said Col. Wilfredo Torrico, a police chief who led the successful rescue, in a radio interview.

The ministers of planning, economic development and mining emerged unscathed after being held by residents demanding authorization for Brazilian iron and steel company MMX to operate in the area.