http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110604/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_bolivia_road_indiansLA PAZ, Bolivia – Bolivian President Evo Morales on Friday inaugurated construction on a highway planned to pass through a nature reserve over the objections of Indian groups that fear it will damage their lands.
No protesters appeared at the ceremony, and the leftist leader was surrounded by hundreds of coca growers who support building the 192-mile (309-kilometer) road from the town of Villa Tunari in the west to San Ignacio de Moxos in the east.
The planned route passes through a national park and territory that is home to three indigenous groups, the Yuracare, Chiman and Trinitaria. Their 15,000 members live by hunting, fishing, collecting fruits and farming.
Morales, who is Bolivia's first president from indigenous group, has said the highway is needed to open economic opportunities for isolated villages in Bolivia's east.
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