Human Rights and Labor Groups Condemn Bush Administration’s Economic War on Bolivian Workers

The Bush Administration has announced it will suspend trade benefits for the hemisphere's poorest country, claiming that the government of President Evo Morales has failed to do enough to curb drug exports. But human rights and labor groups argue that the real motivation is to punish the Morales government in an escalating conflict between the two countries.

The Administration announced the suspension days after the Bolivian government expelled the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia after charging him with collaborating with forces seeking to topple the Morales government.

While the Administration points to an increase in Bolivia's coca exports as justification for the suspension, the increase is far less than those from Colombia. Colombia is repeatedly described by the Bush Administration as the U.S.'s most important ally in Latin America who should be rewarded with the long-stalled Free Trade Agreement.

Witness for Peace, the AFL-CIO, the Washington Office on Latin America, and the Andean Information Network have issued denouncements of the proposed suspension. The suspension is also opposed by the Bolivian trade union movement.

The U.S. enacted the Andean Trade Partnership Act (ATPA) in 1991 to help countries in the region diversify their economies through expanded exports of selected goods. The ATPA benefits have created thousands of jobs, primarily in the textile and agro-industry. Press reports indicate that 30,000 truck drivers and other support workers will be indirectly affected by the action on top of 20,000 workers who produce the ATPA-covered goods for export.

While USLEAP's current agenda does not include Bolivia, USLEAP joins in denouncing the Bush Administration's politicization of a trade program that will harm workers who are being made pawns in a diplomatic tussle.

For further information, see the AFL-CIO's submission to the U.S. Trade Representative and the Washington Office on Latin America website.