Significant Incidents of Political Violence Against Americans 1988

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not hurt. Over the past several weeks, coca-growing
peasants had been staging demonstrations to protest
an antinarcotics bill that was being debated in the
Bolivian legislature.
July 8, 1988--La Paz, Bolivia: One Mormon
Church was bombed and another church was
targeted when an undetonated device was
discovered on the chapel grounds. The bombing
occurred at the Mormon Church located in the
Victoria section of La Paz. The intruders cut
through a metal gate and planted the explosive.
They also threw paint-filled balloons against the
building and spray painted "Yankees Out of
Bolivia" and "CIA agents" on the walls. The bomb
detonated in front of the chapel doors, damaging the
doors and 15 windows. In the second incident,
members of a Mormon youth group discovered a
package containing an explosive device at the
Mormon Church located in the Alto section of La
Paz. The bomb was later given to the police. There
were no injuries in either incident and no claims of
responsibility.
July 17, 1988---San Pedro Sula, Honduras: Between
12:30 a.m. and 1 a.m., nine U.S. military
personnel (five soldiers and four airmen) were
attacked by unknown assailants as they were
leaving Confetties Disco in San Pedro Sula. The
victims had just gotten into their van when an
explosive device (possibly a grenade) was thrown
under the van, blowing out three of four tires.
Following the explosion, two terrorists began firing
at the van with automatic weapons while a third
waited in a car nearby. Six of the nine soldiers were
injured: four with gunshot wounds, one with
shrapnel wounds, and the sixth with a twisted
ankle. On the following day, the People's Revolutionary
Union/Popular Liberation Movement
(Cinchoneros) claimed credit for the attack in a call
to a local radio station.
July 19, 1988--Valparaiso, Chile: Three children
were seriously injured when a bomb exploded near
the entrance of a Mormon Church. The children
were playing in the church's garden at the time of
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