There are few details available. Apparently, the two incidents were related; a US man and a Uruguayan woman have been arrested. Evo Morales accused the United States of "sending terrorists to Bolivia."

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Originally posted by rici:
Evo Morales accused the United States of "sending terrorists to Bolivia."

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[ 22 March 2006: Message edited by: scooter ]

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"¿Hay lucha contra el terrorismo del Gobierno de Estados Unidos o nos manda a norteamericanos a hacer terrorismo en Bolivia?"

Does the government of the US have a fight against terrorism, or are they sending North Americans [he means USians] to engage in terrorism in Bolivia?

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Reuters reports:

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Soon after the second explosion, police arrested the two suspects in the city of El Alto, which borders La Paz.
"Both were carrying cartridges of dynamite and detonators. The woman is Uruguayan and the man says he is from the United States. We are gathering information from immigration to establish when they entered the country," La Paz prosecutor Jorge Gutierrez told reporters.

Local television reports said the 27-year-old man and the 46-year-old Uruguayan woman had been distributing calendars advertising an explosives export company.

The calendars carried a photo of a naked woman, who the television reports said was the woman suspect.

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Bolpress has a few more details:

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The detainees are Alda Ribeiro Acosta of Montevideo and her husband Lestat Claudius of New Orleans. Both foreigners were transferred in the afternoon from Interpol to PTJ [Bolivian police]. "They must kill my husband, my husband is evil, he must be killed," said Ribeiro, who said she had nothing to do with the explosions. According to the television network Unitel, the north american had admitted that he is an admirer of Osama Bin Laden, and that he wanted to kill 50 people in the hotel in Linares St. and 100 in the hotel in Peru Ave.

The couple were distributing calendars to promote a business dedicated to the sale of explosives, with headquarters in Potosí [a Bolivian mining town]. Ribeiro appears in the calendars, nude and with a case of dynamite on one of her knees.

(original):
Los detenidos son Alda Ribeiro Acosta de Montevideo y su marido Lestat Claudius de Nueva Orleans. Ambos extranjeros fueron trasladados pasado el mediodía de Interpol a la PTJ. "Tienen que matar a mi marido, mi marido es un maldito, hay que matarlo", dijo Ribeiro, quien aseguró que ella no tuvo que ver con las explosiones. Según la red de televisión Unitel, el norteamericano habría admitido que es admirador de Osama Bin Laden y que pretendía matar a 50 personas en el alojamiento de la calle Linares y a cien en la avenida Perú.

La pareja de extranjeros promocionaba, a través de calendarios, a una empresa dedicada a la venta de explosivos con sede en la ciudad de Potosí. Ribeiro aparece en esos calendarios, desnuda y con una caja de dinamita apoyada sobre una de sus rodillas.

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The couple showed up briefly in court yesterday where a judge ordered them to be detained until trial, which is expected to be at least six months. Prosecutors indicated that they will be seeking the maximum penalty, 30 years. (Asked why they were not charged with terrorism, which would carry a longer penalty, the prosecutors pointed out that the charge of terrorism requires the proof of an armed group, not just a lone criminal.)

The American, whose original name appears to be Triston Jay Amero, said that he was innocent despite having allegedly confessed when he was arrested. He now says that he was "tortured" to obtain the confession.

He claims to have been expelled from the US and stripped of his US passport, but his home town newspaper has a rather different account.