As if MSM coverage of "Georgia: did not give McCain's campaign enough of a a bump we might see other attempts to provoke nationalist, militarist sentiments in the US electorate. Is Bolivia the new "hot" one? As the Georgia situation has cooled witness violence in ostensible support of succession of Bolivia's energy-rich lowlands from the control of the democratic republic.
Unlike Ossetians, the indigenous of Bolivia have no powerful friends capable of bringing overwhelming support to bear (pardon the pun) on the provocateurs. They have Venezuela, Cuba and others. McCain would likely benefit from the evocation of nationalism associated with US military actions. McCain backers, well connected via the USAID's International Republican Institute to Latin American military and private sector financial leaders, can escalate in a coordinated fashion.
Some details are at Counterpunch. So far the Bolivian government has not cleared roadblocks or responded to the violence with force.
On national television, Bolivians watched as racist teenagers wielded clubs, whips, and two-by-fours against unarmed indigenous workers and peasants. Images of men and women with broken noses and shirts literally drenched in blood quickly made their way to You Tube, private and national state media, and the front pages of the local newspapers
I wonder if the calls for fighting fire with fire might be part of an information operation on the part of McCain's people, or if the deployment of security forces under a declaration of "national emergency" would cool things off.