
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 17, 1991                   TAG: 9103170041
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA                                LENGTH: Short

U.S. FORCES TRAINING BOLIVIANS FOR DRUG WAR

U.S. military forces are training at least 500 Bolivian soldiers for anti-drug operations, marking the beginning of the military's increased role in combating the cocaine trade.

Fernando Kieffer, president of Bolivia's Chamber of Deputies, said at least 10 U.S. trainers are in Santa Cruz to train two light infantry battalions. They are the first of at least 50 U.S. trainers expected to work in Bolivia under an agreement reached between the two countries last May.

However, the military will enter anti-drug operations "only when President Jaime Paz Zamora gives the order," Kieffer said.

Bolivia, an impoverished country of about 7 million, provides about a third of the cocaine consumed in the United States and other foreign markets.

In an effort to stem the flow of cocaine, the United States is providing $33 million in military equipment and training this year contingent upon Bolivia's increased military role in anti-drug operations, the U.S. Embassy in La Paz said.

by CNB