Nov: Bolivia's US-backed President Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga sent 4,000 troops into the Chapare region to forcibly eradicate coca. The Bolivian press discovered 500 illegal (para)military troops among the force and documented that they are funded by the US to terrorize peasant farmers and social activists. When nine farmers were killed, US Ambassador Manuel Rocha praised the bloodshed, in the Spanish-language press, as "heroic" and "sacrificial." Farmers of the Chapare announced plans to blockade the nation's highways in protest of the military invasion and were soon joined by other social movements, including 250,000 retirees. As the US embassy continues its behind-the-scenes pressure on Bolivia, Bush welcomed Quiroga to Washington on 12/6 to inaugurate coca as "terrorism's twin brother" and reaffirm the "zero coca" campaign; needless to say a gas pipeline is also in the works. Narconews reports that a union leader was assassinated in Bolivia at same the hour as the meeting. Attacks on trade unionists and MP | Death squads target landless peasants and cocaleros