Bolivian miners kidnapped, tortured and beat to death a deputy minister who tried to negotiate with protesting workers on Thursday, in what the government condemned as a brutal murder.
"All signs indicate that our deputy minister, Rodolfo Illanes, has been cowardly and brutally murdered," Interior Minister Carlos Romero told a press conference.
Illanes, who has served as deputy interior minister since March, had gone to a highway blockade in the western highland town of Panduro in an attempt to mediate with miners after days of violent protests.
"He was harassed, tortured... he was beaten to death according to the information we have," Defense Minister Reymi Ferreira said.
Illanes had earlier told local media by telephone that "I am in very good health... safeguarded by peers, so people do not hurt me."
But reports later came in that the 56-year-old former criminal lawyer was dead.
"We saw the lifeless body of Deputy Minister Illanes," Moises Flores, director of a mining radio station, told a local radio outlet.
'Deeply shaken'
President Evo Morales was "deeply shaken" upon receiving the news, Ferreira said on private television station Red Uno, before breaking down in tears.
He said that authorities were attempting to recover the body, and in a separate statement reported that about 100 to 120 detentions had been made.
The ringleaders who killed Illanes had been identified, he said, adding that the act "cannot go unpunished, and must be taken to court."
Labeling the killing an "unprecedented criminal act," Romero as well called on Bolivia's justice system to "clear up the murder and establish responsibility."
Miner demonstrations turned violent this week with protestors demanding mining concessions and the right to work for private or foreign companies.
Romero said Illanes had been convinced that they "could be persuaded and urged into a dialogue with the government... but he was intercepted."
Bolivia's attorney general announced that five prosecutors had been sent to Panduro.
Illanes's bodyguard escaped the scene after being stripped of his gun, and had been admitted to a clinic in La Paz.
Days of violence
Two workers were shot dead Wednesday in mining protests on Cochabamba roads, according to prosecutors.
In clashes over the last three days, approximately 20 police have been injured and two remain captured by miners in the central city of Cochabamba, according to official data.
Bolivia's mining cooperatives are allied with the country's president, and hold positions in the executive and in Congress as senators and deputies.
Before the murder, miners had agreed with the government to start negotiating Friday morning at Bolivia's vice presidential headquarters, on condition they open up blocked roads.
AFP
Fri Aug 26 2016
Miners clash with riot policemen in Panduro, La Paz department, Bolivia on August 25, 2016. A miners' union said two men were killed during clashes with the police for the control over roads in Bolivia. AIZAR RALDES / AFP
Tindak balas antarabangsa bantu mangsa Taufan Yagi di Myanmar diperlukan
Taufan Yagi melanda utara Myanmar pada 10 September, menyebabkan banjir teruk, tanah runtuh dan kemusnahan meluas di seluruh negara.
Populasi warga emas berusia 100 tahun di Jepun melebihi 95,000
Bilangan penduduk berusia sekurang-kurangnya 100 tahun di Jepun dianggarkan mencecah 95,119 orang pada September.
Pantai Port Dickson tumpuan pengunjung musim cuti sekolah
Pantai peranginan di Port Dickson menjadi tumpuan pengunjung dari seluruh pelosok negeri untuk berkelah bersama keluarga sempena musim cuti persekolahan ini.
Malaysia melihat kemampanan industri nadir bumi dengan potensi semakan perundangan
Ia untuk menilai keperluan pelarasan bagi pengawasan cekap sektor unsur nadir bumi bukan radioaktif (NR-REE).
23 projek rumah mampu milik akan dibina menerusi RMK-12
Kesemua projek berkenaan akan menyediakan lebih 7,000 unit RMM, yang dibina khusus untuk membantu golongan berpendapatan rendah (B40).
Rusia, Malaysia jalin kerjasama dalam pelancongan mesra Muslim
Rusia dan Malaysia sedia utingkatkan pelancongan mesra Muslim menerusi kerjasama baharu antara badan pensijilan halal Rusia, Roskachestvo dan Pusat Pelancongan Islam Malaysia.
IShowSpeed tiba di KL, terima baju batik daripada peminat
Speed menerima hadiah daripada beberapa orang peminat Malaysia ketika kenderaannya berhenti di lampu isyarat di ibu negara pada Selasa,
Penyanyi Sean Diddy ditangakp di New York
Penerbit muzik terkenal, Puff Daddy atau lebih dikenali sebagai Sean Diddy Combs yang berdepan dengan beberapa tuduhan serangan seksual telah diberkas di Manhatann, New York oleh ejen persekutuan pada Isnin waktu tempatan.
10 maut, puluhan cedera bas Iran terbalik
Menurut angka awal, kemalangan itu mengakibatkan 10 maut dan 41 cedera.
Malaysia perlu melabur dalam infrastruktur
Pengarah Eksekutif Ukrainian Prism, Hennadiy Maksak berpandangan, Malaysia juga tidak boleh bergantung kepada satu laluan, selain menjalin hubungan yang baik dengan negara-negara jiran.