Bolivian upsets

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32802, 30 December 1971, Page 12

Bolivian upsets

(N.Z.P. A.-Reuter—Copyright) LA PAZ, Dec. 29. A Bolivian Army colonel who helped to overthrow the Left-wing President, Mr Juan Jose Torres, in a civil war last August is himself in the political wilderness today, ousted in a Cabinet reshuffle.

Colonel Andres Selich last night offered his resignation as Minister of the Interior and it was accepted by President Hugo Banzer, the man he helped put in power. The President’s announcement that he had accepted the resignation of Colonel Selich considered the strong-man of the Cabinet—-

came as a complete surprise. While observers did not rule out the possibility that he would receive a senior Army post, they recalled recent rumours of disagreement with. President Banzer. TERROR OF LEFT As Minister, Colonel Selich had taken personal charge of an Army and police purge of Marxist guerrillas—some of them former followers of Ernesto “Che” Guevara and active Torres supporters. Informed sources estimate that at least 500 Left-wingers have been detained by the Banzer regime. Many have been held in the grim Alto Madidi prison camp in the tropical north of the country, which President Banzer announced earlier yesterday would be closed down. Strong protests about conditions there had been made by the Roman Catholic Church.