MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Unasur commission to investigate killings of Bolivian peasants

Presidents and representatives from the Union of South American Nations, Unasur agreed on the creation of a committee to investigate recent peasant massacres in the Bolivian province of Pando.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet who holds the temporary chair of Unasur said an informal meeting was held in New York taking advantage of the presence of many South American presidents at the opening of the United Nations General Assembly. The special investigation committee will be named next Monday and will be headed by the Argentine expert in human rights Rodolfo Matarolo. "We are advancing and will continue working in support of democracy in Bolivia", said Bachelet. Allegedly at least 16 peasants were killed by a hit gang during the recent political turmoil in Bolivia. The governor of Pando has been formally accused of having masterminded the killings and is currently under arrest waiting to be prosecuted. Governor Fernandez and one of the main opponents of Bolivian president Evo Morales denies the charges and claims he has been arrested in spite of his governor immunity as an elected official. President Morales named a military commander as interim governor of Pando. Ms Bachelet also announced that the next Unasur meeting scheduled for October in Chile had been postponed since it was "too close". The idea is to take advantage of international events when South American president members of the organization must be present to hold meetings and decide on a short agenda of issues. "We want to be austere with travelling". This means that most probably the next Unasur meeting will take place when the Mercosur summit at the end of the year in Salvador, Bahía pointed out Ms Bachelet. All South American countries are members of Unasur.