Bolivia deploys military personnel in San Ignacio de Velasco following four murders in two days
The Bolivian government sends troops and special forces to the border with Brazil following a wave of violence that left four dead in 48 hours.
Military and special forces reinforce border zone with Brazil following four homicides
Bolivia will deploy military personnel and special forces in San Ignacio de Velasco, a municipality located 461 kilometres north-east of Santa Cruz and close to the border with Brazil, from this Tuesday onwards, announced Defence Minister Ernesto Justiniano. The measure responds to a wave of violence that left at least four people shot dead in the last two days, according to correodelsur.com.
The immediate trigger was the murder of two young people on Monday in a home whilst they were streaming live on TikTok to sell motorcycles. According to local media, two foreigners broke into the place, took photographs of them and then opened fire. On Sunday, two other homicides had already been recorded in the same town.
"We have spoken with the general commander of the Armed Forces so that from today we have a reinforcement of military forces and special forces, and they are trained to fight terrorism and for special missions that will be in place from today in San Ignacio," Justiniano said.
The minister noted that residents are "very frightened" and that local authorities requested support from the national Government. The military will coordinate their operations with the Police and will remain in the area as the situation develops. The deployment will include the F10, a specialised military unit, together with a larger police contingent.
The governor of Santa Cruz, Juan Pablo Velasco, called on the Defence Ministry on Monday to "militarise" the Chiquitania region to combat organised crime, and claimed that the entire department was in "suspense".
The government of Rodrigo Paz linked these crimes to Brazilian criminal organisations First Capital Command (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV), which are disputing control of drug trafficking routes on the border with Bolivia. Last week, Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo warned about the increase in arrests of foreigners in anti-drug operations, as well as the confiscation of "large-calibre" weapons and dozens of small aircraft used to transport cocaine abroad.
The Government Ministry announced in August that Brazil's Federal Police will shortly open a permanent office in Bolivia to strengthen cooperation against organised crime and facilitate the exchange of information between the two countries.
Source: Google News BO — Crime