Military crackdown hushes rebellious Bolivian city

By Marco Aquino

COBIJA, Bolivia (Reuters) - Bolivian troops on Monday started rounding up people accused of organizing protests against leftist President Evo Morales in a remote Amazon province where martial law has shuttered schools and businesses.

Clashes between Morales' supporters and opponents killed up to 30 people in Pando province last week as protests flared across the poor nation's eastern lowlands against the president's drive to redistribute land and change the constitution.

The streets of Pando's small capital, Cobija, were nearly deserted on Monday and protesters demanding greater regional autonomy continued to occupy government agencies, including the customs office.

Isolated gunshots were heard during the night in the city of about 32,000 people, surrounded by the dense Amazon jungle in the heart of South America, where rubber and Brazil nuts are produced.

Amanda Saumero said soldiers arrested her son, Hugo Apaza, during early on Monday.

"They pushed me onto the couch and wouldn't let me get up, asking where my son was. I told them he wasn't here, but they went through my entire house anyway. They found him and took him away," she said between sobs. She said her son works in logging and is not active in politics.

About 60 soldiers used dynamite to break down the door to the house of opposition activist Ana Melena. Her neighbours said they ransacked the house and hauled away a computer.

BLOODSHED