Young Bolivians fight for their regions

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His mother pleaded: Don’t go to the road blockade. ‘I had a bad feeling,’ she recalled. ‘It was dangerous.’

But her son insisted. Edson Abad Ruiz was a proud member of the Juvenile Union of Santa Cruz, a group dedicated to defending this rebellious eastern region of Bolivia from its chief foe, the leftist administration of President Evo Morales. He was badly beaten and died when unionistas brawled with pro-government activists at a roadblock west of town, police say.

Read the rest of Patrick J. McDonnell’s report from Bolivia here, and for more posts from the troubled country, click here.

Ruiz’s funeral. He was a member of the Juvenile Union of Santa Cruz. “Win or Die With Glory” is its motto. Untrained ‘defense’ groups are popping up in the rebellious lowland. Credit: Joao Padua / AFP/Getty Images