Source:
ReutersProsecutor says Bolivian opposition backed plot
Tue May 5, 2009 5:45am BST
LA PAZ (Reuters) - The Bolivian prosecutor investigating an alleged plot to kill leftist President Evo Morales said a witness had implicated leading opposition figures in the conspiracy.
Last month, police raided a hotel in the opposition stronghold of Santa Cruz, killing three people and arresting two suspected of planning assassinations.
Marcelo Sosa, the prosecutor leading the probe, told reporters on Monday evening a person linked to the group, Ignacio Villa, testified that Santa Cruz businessman Branko Marinkovic and the province's right-wing governor offered financial aid.
Marinkovic made Villa "an economic offer" and Governor Ruben Costas "offered him a house and land," said Sosa.
"The aim of both offers was to (encourage) them to finish what they had started, a string of attacks," said Sosa, adding that Costas, Marinkovic and several other businessmen from Santa Cruz had been summoned to testify.
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Sosa said a second witness declared that Marinkovic, a fierce critic of Morales and a prominent political activist, gave the group $200,000 (135,000 pounds) to buy weapons.
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