Mercosur expresses solidarity with U.S.-spurned Bolivia

SAUIPE COAST, Brazil, Dec. 16 (Chinese media) -- The 36th Common Market of the

South (Mercosur) Leaders Summit expressed solidarity with Bolivia on Tuesday in

a communique, following U.S. President George W. Bush's suspension of Bolivia's

trade preferences, which took effect Monday.

Mercosur will import Bolivian products worth 30 million U.S. dollars in

2009 in response to the U.S. government's decision to cancel Bolivia's

designation as a beneficiary country under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug

Eradication Act (ATPDEA), citing La Paz's supposed lack of collaboration in the

fight against drug trafficking.

The suspension implies that all Bolivian textiles and manufactures must pay

tariffs to enter the U.S. market, the main source of income for many in South

America's poorest nation.

"In solidarity with the government and people of Bolivia, we concur on the

importance of agreeing on concrete emergency measures to support Bolivia, in

view of the economic and social difficulties and the lack of access to the

markets, against the recent unilateral suspension of extra-regional tariff

preferences," the communique said.

The country would lose some 210 million U.S. dollars each year due to the

suspension, Bolivian President Evo Morales said at the summit. He also expressed

appreciation of Mercosur's decision to open its markets to Bolivian textile

products.

The White House's move was an act of "revenge" in response to Bolivia's

expulsion of the U.S. ambassador to La Paz for collaborating with the opposition

in organizing a civil coup, Morales said.

"President George W. Bush suspended the market for Bolivian textiles,

without even respecting the decision of his country's Congress, despite the

second report of the United Nations saying that Bolivia is fully committed to

the fight against drug trafficking," he added.

Bolivia would have filed an international lawsuit against the United

States, but has suspended such a move trusting that President-elect Barack Obama

would repair "this injustice, this vengeance," when he takes office, Morales

said at the summit.

The Mercosur was founded by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay in 1991

to promote free trade and the easy movement of goods, people and currencies.

The presidents of Bolivia, Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, Suriname and Guyana,

and the vice presidents of Colombia and Peru attended the summit.