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President Bush has signed into law a one-year extension of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) for Colombia and Peru, both of which have concluded free trade agreements with the US. The Colombian agreement is currently stalled in US Congress, while Peru is still waiting for US certification of its implementation measures before the FTA can enter into force.
Trade benefits for Bolivia and Ecuador, however, were only renewed until end-June 2009. A number of influential Republicans, including Senator Charles Grassley, had favoured terminating preferences for the two countries, which they see as hostile to US economic and political interests (Bridges Year 12 No.4 page 18).
In practice, Bolivia is unlikely to draw any benefits from the ATPDEA prolongation. On 31 October or soon after President Bush is expected to formally suspend the Bolivia’s designation as an ATPDEA beneficiary country “based on the Bolivian government’s failure to meet the programmes’ counter-narcotics co-operation criteria.”
The Bush administration has denied that the move is motivated by Bolivia’s left-leaning politics. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told journalists on 23 October that there was “no ideological test for co-operation and friendship with the United States.” Instead, she said that the decision was based on Bolivia’s lack of action in curbing coca production despite repeated warnings that this could jeopardise its ATPDEA benefits.
In mid-September, President Bush designated Bolivia as a country that had ‘failed demonstrably’ to live up to its obligations under international counter-narcotics agreements. For instance, cocaine production had increased markedly and the government had publicly vowed to increase government-sanctioned coca cultivation. On 11 September, Bolivia expelled US Ambassador Philip Goldberg, accusing him of fomenting civil unrest.
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