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UNCLAS LA PAZ 002494 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EINV ETRD EFIN BL
SUBJECT: BOLIVIA: EVO CALLS ATPDEA SUSPENSION "VENGEANCE" 
 
¶1. Summary:  Press reports highlighted the closure of two 
more small businesses in the wake of the announcement of 
President Bush's decision to suspend ATPDEA trade benefits 
for Bolivia starting December 15.  President Morales reacted 
angrily, calling the suspension "political vengeance."  Vice 
President Garcia Linera described the benefits suspension as 
part of an "abusive and aggressive attitude on the part of a 
world power against a country."  Morales announced that he 
will re-negotiate on ATPDEA with the incoming Obama 
administration, while industry experts downplayed the 
Bolivian government's attempts at replacing the U.S. market. 
End summary. 
 
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Morales' Reaction: Vengeance is Theirs! 
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¶2. Despite the White House statement that clearly explained 
the reasons behind the decision to suspend ATPDEA benefits 
for Bolivia, Morales continues to insist that Bolivia has met 
its counternarcotics targets. In response to the suspension 
announcement, Morales said, "Suspending Bolivian exports of 
textiles to the United States, under a pretext that the 
Bolivian government has not complied or has not helped in the 
counternarcotics fight is completely false.  What the U.S. 
government and the U.S. president has done is apply a 
political vengeance to frighten the Bolivian people." 
Morales has repeatedly stated that Bolivia met its 
counternarcotics targets better Peru and Colombia, countries 
which were not decertified. 
 
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Morales Hopes for Improved Relations Under Obama... 
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¶3. Morales declared at a November 27 press conference that he 
is predisposed to work with the Obama administration, and 
that he intends to negotiate re-establishment of ambassadors 
in both countries "on the condition that there is 
respect....Beyond the wealth of a country, beyond the poverty 
of a country, first is the dignity of the Bolivians." 
Morales claimed that he had met with an unnamed U.S. Senator 
in his last visit to Washington who told him that in June the 
Obama administration "would re-instate ATPDEA."  Morales 
warned, however, that negotiations would have to wait until 
president-elect Obama took office, because "no kind of 
negotiation can take place because there is a stage of 
transition." 
 
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...While Morales' Appointee Doubts Chance of Change 
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¶4. Not all public officials in Bolivia are so confident of a 
change under a new U.S. administration, however.  In a radio 
interview, Cochabamba Prefect Rafael Puente (who was 
appointed by President Morales) said that Bolivians should 
not hope for greatly improved relations with the United 
States under the Obama administration: "The only news for 
Bolivia is that now a black man will be screwing us." 
 
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Industry Still Focused on (Shrinking) Bottom Line 
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¶5. Eduardo Paz, president of the Industry, Trade, Services 
and Tourism Chamber of Santa Cruz (CAINCO) announced that 
Morales' assurances of new markets in Venezuela and Iran 
"cannot compare to the U.S. market" and complained that they 
are suffering under Morales' "erratic foreign trade 
policies".  Paz described the first trade agreements under 
the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) as 
amounting to roughly one tenth of trade that currently 
benefits from ATPDEA tariff elimination. 
LAMBERT