Dispatch: Conflict in Cochabamba, Bolivia

Just as things seemed to have calmed a bit in Oaxaca, another hotspot is developing in Bolivia. Jim Schultz from The Democracy Center had this dispatch from Cochabamba:

As I write this the Center of Cochabamba has just become a war zone. Crowds of hundreds of, mostly young men, armed with heavy sticks, are in open conflict on the block below our office and throughout the Center of Cochabamba. Flying rocks fill the air. Several have come flying through our windows. 

AP describes the situation this way:

 Protesters seeking the ouster of a Bolivian state governor for his opposition to leftist President Evo Morales battled with the governor’s supporters Thursday in clashes that left two dead and more than 60 injured, authorities said.

Bolivian military officials estimated 30,000 demonstrators armed with sticks and rocks overran police in the streets of Cochabamba during the fourth day of protests to demand the resignation of governor Manfred Reyes Villa. They clashed at various spots throughout the valley city.