Message from the U.S. Embassy

Dear Warden:

Below please find a Warden Message from the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia. Please share this war­den mes­sage with any U.S. cit­i­zens in Bolivia with whom you have con­tact. We hope this infor­ma­tion is use­ful to you. If we may pro­vide fur­ther assis­tance, please do not hes­i­tate to con­tact us.

Sincerely,

American Citizen Services Unit

U.S. Embassy La Paz, Bolivia

WARDEN MESSAGE

U.S. EMBASSY LA PAZ, BOLIVIA

September 13, 2008 at 5:40 p.m.

A Travel Warning has been sent out inform­ing U.S. cit­i­zens that the Department of State has autho­rized the depar­ture of non-emergency per­son­nel and all fam­ily mem­bers of U.S. Embassy per­son­nel in Bolivia and sug­gests all U.S. cit­i­zens defer non-essential travel to Bolivia.  U.S. cit­i­zens cur­rently in Bolivia should remain vig­i­lant, mon­i­tor local media, review their secu­rity pos­ture on a reg­u­lar basis, and con­sider depart­ing if the sit­u­a­tion allows.

At this time, all air car­ri­ers are fly­ing, except for American Airlines flights between Bolivia and Miami which have been can­celed over the next few days.  American Airlines sug­gests that those trav­el­ers affected by these flight can­cel­la­tions should con­tact AA via 800–100229 in Bolivia or http://www.aa.com to con­firm flights and make reser­va­tions.  All air­ports are open, except for air­ports in the cities of Tarija, Trinidad, and Cobija, in the Departments of Chuquisaca, Beni, and Pando, respec­tively.  This infor­ma­tion is sub­ject to change at any time, so U.S. cit­i­zens should stay cur­rent with media cov­er­age of local events.  American cit­i­zens may wish to access tips on emer­gency pre­pared­ness through the Department of Homeland Security’s web site at http://www.dhs.gov/xcitizens/editorial_0711.shtm.

The U.S. Embassy in La Paz con­tin­ues to review its secu­rity pos­ture and may, from time to time, close for rou­tine ser­vices. U.S. con­sular per­son­nel remain avail­able to pro­vide emer­gency infor­ma­tion and ser­vices to U.S. cit­i­zens. U.S. cit­i­zens in need of Embassy assis­tance should call the Embassy’s Consular Section at (591) 2–216-8297 dur­ing work­ing hours (M-F, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or 216‑8500 after hours or on weekends.

U.S. cit­i­zens should be aware of pos­si­ble mass street demon­stra­tions and block­ades if plan­ning travel to or within Bolivia. Roadblocks may also affect the route to and from air­ports with lit­tle or no prior notice.  U.S. cit­i­zens are encour­aged to avoid the areas where these mass assem­blies and demon­stra­tions are expected to occur. Under no cir­cum­stances should any­one attempt to run a road­block, even if they appear unat­tended.   You are reminded that even demon­stra­tions intended to be peace­ful can turn con­fronta­tional between secu­rity forces, demon­stra­tors, and bystanders, and esca­late into vio­lence. Americans are urged to avoid the areas of demon­stra­tions and to exer­cise cau­tion if within the vicin­ity of any protests. If you find your­self in the vicin­ity of a large gath­er­ing, it is rec­om­mended you leave the area imme­di­ately for your own safety.

The police are on a height­ened alert for poten­tial civil unrest. Traffic is expected to be con­gested through­out all major cities. Because the police will be involved in address­ing poten­tial civil unrest, there will be min­i­mal munic­i­pal patrols. As a result, you can expect crim­i­nals to take advan­tage of large crowds and use ruse or diver­sion­ary tac­tics to prey on poten­tial street vic­tims. Pick-pocketing, purse snatch­ing, and car thefts are the most com­mon street crimes dur­ing such peri­ods. Everyone is advised to limit their cash on hand, unnec­es­sary credit cards, jew­elry, and other portable valuables.

In addi­tion to civil unrest in cities, it is not uncom­mon for roads between cities to be blocked by pro­test­ers or marchers. If you are plan­ning to travel by land (bus, rented vehi­cle or other), please recon­sider your travel plans and check with the local police (‘Unidad Operativa de Transito’) to see if the road to your des­ti­na­tion is open. You could become a con­ve­nient tar­get of oppor­tu­nity. Please note that the police have lim­ited capa­bil­i­ties out­side major cities and com­mu­ni­ca­tion is poor.

Consular Agencies in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz may not be opened to the pub­lic, depend­ing on local con­di­tions.  However, U.S. con­sular per­son­nel remain avail­able to pro­vide emer­gency infor­ma­tion and ser­vices to U.S. cit­i­zens. U.S. cit­i­zens in need of Embassy assis­tance should call the Embassy’s Consular Section at (591) 2–216-8297 dur­ing work­ing hours (M-F, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), or 216‑8500 after hours or on week­ends,  or via email at USCit.Services.Bolivia@gmail.com.

Americans resid­ing or trav­el­ing in Bolivia are encour­aged to reg­is­ter and update their con­tact infor­ma­tion at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, or the U.S. con­sular agen­cies in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, Bolivia, when open. Registration may be done online and can be done in advance of travel. Information on reg­is­ter­ing may be found at the Department of State’s Consular Affairs web site: https://travelregistration.state.gov.

U.S. cit­i­zens should con­sult the Country Specific Information for Bolivia and the lat­est Travel Alerts and Warnings and Worldwide Caution at the Department’s web site at http://travel.state.gov. Updated infor­ma­tion on travel and secu­rity in Bolivia may also be obtained from the Department of State by call­ing 1–888-407‑4747 within the United States or by call­ing 1–202-501‑4444 out­side the United States. During reg­u­lar work hours, the American Citizens Services unit at the Embassy in La Paz may be reached at 591–2-216‑8297. The con­sular agen­cies may be reached in Santa Cruz at 591–3-351‑3477 and in Cochabamba at 591–3-411‑6313, when they re-open.

We hope this infor­ma­tion is use­ful to you. If we may pro­vide fur­ther assis­tance, please do not hes­i­tate to con­tact us.

Sincerely,

American Citizen Services Unit

U.S. Embassy La Paz, Bolivia