What Happened
The convoy of Bolivia's public works minister was ambushed by protesters and briefly disappeared while overseeing the clearing of roadblocks on Saturday.
Mauricio Zamora's vehicle was intercepted Copata on Saturday afternoon and became separated , local media reported. located .
command of an operation to clear barriers -government protesters aimed at slowing administrative capital, La Paz, and nearby El Alto.
The mission to create so-called "humanitarian corridors" renewed violence from demonstrators, with some convoys reportedly attacked with stones and dynamite.
Why It Matters
Marches, protests and roadblocks by trade unions and supporters of left-wing former President Evo Morales have intensified this week, with clashes with security forces .
The demonstrators are hoping to put pressure on Bolivia's centre-right President Rodrigo Paz to resign just six months after taking office over his government's austerity measures, with his alignment another divisive issue.
Bolivia's police and military were dispatched from major cities Saturday morning roadblocks, deploying bulldozers concrete pillars, aiming medicine into the capital.
But in several places, clashes with protesters roadblocks were re-established.
What Comes Next
Zamora's convoy had been travelling through Copata, , when residents began pelting it with stones and dynamite, local media reported.
His vehicle became separated from the others as they retreated a dirt road, according to Agencia Noticias Fides (ANF). Here, though, it suffered a second ambush before eventually reunite with the convoy.
Elsewhere, protesters looted a customs post in Achicha Arriba, on the highway , after police attempt to disperse protesters there.
Near Caracollo, , a convoy was attacked with explosives. Demonstrators burnt a military truck and looted a police station, while a minibus -Oruro highway, according to daily newspaper La Razon.
The government denied reports - repeated by Morales - that a person had been killed Vilaque, highway. Several outlets reported journalists covering the operation coming under attack.
Paz was elected on a promise to end Bolivia's worst economic crisis in decades.
But his decision -standing fuel subsidies amid shortages and inflation has raised living costs and enraged a sizeable portion of the population.
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