Five pro-Morales farmers killed in Bolivia clashes

At least five people died after being shot in clashesbetween coca farmers and security forces in Bolivia on Friday, localmedia reported.A further 34 people were injured and more than 100 were arrested,according to Nelson Cox, the ombudsman of the city of Cochabamba,newspaper El Deber wrote.The farmers were trying to march through Cochabamba to La Paz tosupport ousted president Evo Morales, who is in exile in Mexico.Morales comes from a family of coca farmers.The police and the military blocked the way of the protesters on abridge in Sacaba, an eastern suburb of Cochabamba.Jaime Zurita, the police chief in Cochabamba, said the farmersattacked security forces with guns. The latest violent clashes come as the country's new interimgovernment and lawmakers from Morales' party are preparing to worktogether to stage fresh elections and to restore peace followingnearly a month of protests. Interim President Jeanine Anez's government and the Movement forSocialism (MAS) have held talks sponsored by the country's Bishops'Conference, the European Union and Spain, the daily Pagina Sietereported on Friday. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has alsosent an envoy to Bolivia. Morales, meanwhile, called for "a national dialogue which guaranteesthe return of our beloved Bolivia on the road to democraticallyrestoring peace," in a post published on Twitter.Morales resigned on Sunday and went into exile in Mexico two dayslater after the Organization of American States (OAS) reportedirregularities in the October 20 elections in which the leftistpresident claimed an outright victory against his centre-rightchallenger Carlos Mesa.Morales has rejected Anez's presidency and maintains that he remainsin power, because Congress has not officially accepted hisresignation.He told the Mexican daily El Universal on Friday that he was hopingto return to complete his mandate, which expires on January 22, andto organize elections in which he would no longer be a candidate.Meanwhile, the interim government on Friday made moves that indicatedit was willing to cut ties with its Latin American neighbours.All Venezuelan diplomats have been ordered to leave the countrybecause of their alleged interference with domestic matters,Bolivia's interim foreign minister, Karen Longaric, announced.The move marks a radical break with the policies of Morales, who wasone of few remaining backers of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro.Bolivia's interim government has recognized opposition leader JuanGuaido as Venezuela's interim president.Longaric also said Bolivia plans to leave the ALBA-TCP alliance - anintergovernmental organization founded by Cuba and Venezuela - and isconsidering leaving the UNASUR Union of South American Nations.Bolivian ambassadors appointed by Morales will also be relieved oftheir duties - with the exception of envoys to the Vatican and Peru,she said.Longaric said there was evidence that Venezuelans took part inviolent protests against the interim government, and that nineVenezuelans arrested possessed high-calibre weapons.Cuba's foreign ministry also said it would withdraw medical staffafter four members of a Cuban medical team were arrested over allegedparticipation in pro-Morales protests.The ministry denied that they had financed and organizeddemonstrations and said they had "strictly" carried out onlyhumanitarian work. Nicaragua's leftist President Daniel Ortega earlier accused US"imperialists" of having staged "a coup" in Bolivia and said suchaction could encourage people in Latin America to "seek arms to takepower" in revolutions rather than through elections.