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Bolivia is aiming to boost tourism with the opening of the Che Guevara trail.

Backed by the community development organisation Care, it is hoped the route through the remote Santa Cruz and Chuquisaca areas of south-eastern Bolivia will help development in area that has little changed in the last 40 years.

The trail follows the route taken by Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and his army of guerrillas while they hid from Bolivian authorities in 1967 and includes their camp and the school where he was finally captured.

Visitors can travel as Guevara did - by mule or on foot through rocky forested terrain - or in four-wheel-drive vehicles along the unpaved roads.

Jacqueline Pena, Care project manager for the Che Guevara Trail, said: 'The objective is to create opportunities for impoverished local communities whose only means of sustainability has traditionally been agriculture.

'This project offers them an alternative, and a means of improving their quality of life.'

Opportunities created by the project include locally run and owned hotels, restaurants and handicraft businesses, as well as roles as tour guides.

Ms Pena added: 'The local Guarani people will play a key role in determining the future of the project, and in this way, promote self-empowerment. All decisions relating to the trail will be made by local people themselves.'



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