Editorial Note
In late May 1949, violence broke out in the Bolivian tin-mining area of Catavi consequent upon a strike by workers protesting the arrest and exile of certain labor leaders and other persons suspected of being involved in a plot led by the Movimiento Nacional Revolucionario (MNR) political party to overthrow the Bolivian Government. Two Americans, among a number of persons held hostage by the mine workers, were killed before the situation was brought under control by the Government.
For the texts of statements issued by the Department of State on May 31 and by Acting Secretary of State Webb on June 1, see Department of State Bulletin, June 12, 1949, page 764. Documentation on the events of this period is contained principally in Department of State decimal files 824.00 and 824.5045.
In the ensuing months, the United States Government made numerous representations to the Bolivian Government for trial and punishment of the individuals responsible for the crimes at Catavi; see airgrams 287, December 22, to La Paz, page 545.