US warns citizens against travel to Bolivia due to ‘civil unrest’

WASHINGTON: The US State Department on Tuesday warned American citizens not to travel to Bolivia and limited its diplomatic presence in the country due to unrest that followed recent disputed elections.

"Do not travel to Bolivia due to civil unrest," the State Department said in a travel advisory, adding that it has ordered diplomats’ family members to leave and authorized "the departure of non-emergency US government employees due to ongoing political instability in Bolivia."

"There are recurring demonstrations, strikes, roadblocks, and marches in major cities in Bolivia," it said. "Some protests have resulted in violent confrontations, and local authorities have used crowd control measures to discourage protests."

Bolivia’s attorney general said Tuesday that seven people have died in unrest that broke out after Evo Morales was controversially declared the winner of October 20 presidential polls that were said to have been tainted by fraud.

Weeks of protests followed and Morales resigned on Sunday after losing the support of the security forces, going into exile in Mexico.