BOLIVIAN police said they had broken up an armed international group yesterday that was plotting to assassinate President Evo Morales.
Three suspects were killed and two were arrested in a half-hour shoot-out with officers in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, police said. The area is the centre of political opposition to Mr Morales.
Police confiscated explosives, high-calibre weap
ons and plans to follow the president's motorcade, police commander Victor Hugo Escobar said.
They included C-4 explosives "that don't exist in Bolivia," Vice-President Alvaro Garcia said.
Mr Morales said he and Mr Garcia were the targets.
"I had information several days ago that they were preparing an assassination attempt," he said.
"Yesterday, I gave the vice-president and the commander of the national police instructions to stage an operation and detain those mercenaries."
Mr Escobar said that among those killed were Hungarians, while Mr Garcia said that the band was composed of Croatians, Irish and Bolivian "far right".
Among the seized weapons were rifles with telescopic sights. Documents were seized "pertaining not only to past events but future attacks against the highest authorities of the national government," Mr Garcia said.
Officers were still searching for further suspects belonging to other cells, he added.
Police said the group was also responsible for a dynamite attack on Wednesday on the home of Bolivia's Catholic Cardinal Julio Terrazas, who was not at home at the time.
Santa Cruz governor Ruben Costas suggested the operation was staged to discredit his government.
