Bolivia's government said Thursday police have thwarted a group that planned to assassinate President Evo Morales and the vice president. Deputy Interior Minister Marcos Farfan said in La Paz that three people were killed and two suspects arrested in a gun battle with police in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, where opposition to Morales' government is strong. After Thursday's shootout, police confiscated explosives, heavy weapons, and plans for following the president's motorcade, police commander Victor Hugo Escobar said, adding that two Hungarians and one Bolivian were killed in the battle. In Caracas, Venezuela, Morales said security forces had prevented the plot to assassinate him and other top officials. “Yesterday I gave instructions to the vice president to move to arrest these mercenaries, and this morning I was informed of a half-hour shootout at a hotel in the city of Santa Cruz—three foreigners are dead and two arrested,” Morales said. Morales also said an Irish person may have been among what he called foreign mercenaries involved in the alleged plot. He said he had information that the plot was to kill him, the vice president, and a cabinet minister.
