Bolivian military on alert

As four provinces in Bolivia prepare to declare their autonomy on Saturday Bolivia's military is now on alert. 400 police officers have been sent to Santa Cruz by authorities to ensure security.

The U.S. Department of State has issued a Public Announcement to warn anyone considering travel there as dangerous at this time. The provinces of Santa Cruz, Tarija, Beni and Pando, announced their intentions to create independent regional governments. These four provinces are relativity wealthy states that are in the eastern lowlands According to Voice of America the four provinces are objecting to President Evo Morales move to boost his power by overhauling the constitution he also wants to increase the rights of the indigenous majority. They mostly live in the improvised western highlands and they are the core of Mr. Morales's support. Morales wants to break up the landholdings of the farmers and redistribute the wealth to the poorer areas. According to AL Jazeera soldiers are ready to step in to protect both private and public property. Walker San Migal, the county's defense minister said

"We are remaining very attentive and concerned by what is happening in the country,"

My intrest in this is a family from my church are missionaries there. From an email that I received from my pastor this morning he said,

Please remember [name removed] in prayer. Paul is our Missionary to Bolivia and [name removed] is his sending church. Bolivia is going through a very difficult political situation that could end in a civil war. Paul is in a safe area but there are talks of violence this weekend. Military personal are stationed at gas stations and through out the cities. 4 out of 9 states are talking about leaving the country.