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Bolivian Bus Drivers Protest Fuel Price Hike

   VOA News 27 December 2010
   Soldiers  help  a  woman  get  into  a  military truck during a public
   transportation strike in El Alto, 27 Dec 2010

Photo: AP

   Soldiers  help  a  woman  get  into  a  military truck during a public
   transportation strike in El Alto, 27 Dec 2010

   Bus  drivers in Bolivia have begun an "indefinite" strike to protest a
   sharp fuel price increase that went into effect on Sunday.
   The  government  Monday  sent  army  trucks out to the suburbs to help
   workers get to their jobs in the capital, La Paz.
   The  bus  drivers  are  protesting  a  73 percent increase in gasoline
   prices and an 83 percent increase in the cost of diesel fuel.
   Bolivian  Vice  President  Alvaro  Garcia,  who  is  in  charge of the
   government  while  President  Evo  Morales is on a visit to Venezuela,
   says   the  government  is  raising  prices  to  encourage  more  fuel
   production  in  Bolivia.   He also said the move is aimed at stopping
   the  smuggling  of  cheap,  subsidized fuel across Bolivian borders to
   other countries.
   Fuel prices last rose in Bolivia more than five years ago.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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