LatinNews Daily - 19 May 2011

BOLIVIA: On 16 June the US government announced that its ambassador to Bolivia, Philip Goldberg, would return to Washington to discuss security. The announcement follows the violent protests which occurred outside the US embassy in La Paz on 9 June, caused by revelations that former Bolivian defence minister Carlos Sánchez Berzaí­n had been granted political asylum by the US over a year ago. The protesters blame the former defence minister together with Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, a former president who also lives in the US, for ordering an army clampdown on anti-government protests in 2003 which resulted in 65 deaths and more than 400 people injured. US State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said that “we appreciate the efforts of the Bolivian National Police to protect our Embassy and our personnel. At the same time, we are concerned by the recent statements of some Bolivian government officials that cast doubt on Bolivia's commitment to fulfill its Vienna Convention obligations to protect diplomatic staff and facilities in the future".