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Bolivian aerial wheelchair protest

Monday, October 05, 2009 LA PAZ: A group of disabled people in Bolivia are taking extreme measures to demand financial assistance from the government.A Bolivian television network showed at least half a dozen protesters, wheelchairs included, suspended from the Urubo Bridge, near the city of Santa Cruz.A second group buried themselves in sand by the Pirai River that runs under the bridge.According to Bolivian media reports, they are demanding an annual allowance of 3,000 Bolivian pesos (£255) from central government.This protest is the latest in a series staged over the last few months calling for more financial assistance, President Evo Morales' government claims that giving an annual allowance to every disabled person in Bolivia was not "sustainable".But his vice-president, Alvaro Garcia Linera told a Bolivian radio station that 40 million pesos (£3.4 million) would be used to improve health centres, infrastructure and housing earmarked for the disabled.
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