La Paz  30 January 2007

Distinguished Prime Minister,

During a time and phase prior to the launch of negotiations between CAN and the EU, I am writing to express some fundamental premises that Bolivia has proposed on various occasions in order for these negotiations to advance successfully and fruitfully for both sides.

Firstly, it is necessary that the negotiations take into account that there exist enormous differences in wealth and industrial development between both blocks, as well as within CAN. Bolivia has expressed on numerous occasions that it is vital to take these asymmetries into account and to consider a special and differentiated treatment for countries of CAN and in particular for Bolivia. We consider that the Association Agreement between CAN and EU is an excellent opportunity to construct a trade relationship of solidarity between both blocks which will give an example of what a true special and differentiated treatment should be like for the country with least development in the Andean region.

Secondly, it is fundamental to take into account the process of change and the revalorization of the State which is taking place in the Andean region and in particular Bolivia, respecting these policies in the process of negotiation between CAN and the European Union. Bolivia for the first time in three decades has achieved both a fiscal and trade surplus thanks to its recovery of the control and property of its hydrocarbon resources, exercising a better regulatory capacity and fulfilling the promise of nationalisation without expropriation, guaranteeing judicial security to companies that comply with our laws. This economic strengthening of the State is allowing us to carry out a process of redistributing wealth which is reducing the enormous gulf of inequality and injustice inside our own country. In this way, we are reinforcing the communitarian capacities of our population which were suffocated before by the logic of profit and competition. For this reason, in the process of joint assessment in the CAN-EU Association Agreement, Bolivia reiterated several times that it rejected the possibility of including in the negotiations issues that would lead to the reduction in the role of the State and of public services, or that restricted public policies in economic, social, environmental and cultural areas.

Thirdly, we hope that the issue of the environment will be treated in a true and integrated way. In general the concern for the future of our planet is reduced to an adornment in trade agreements. Conscious of the gravity of environmental issues and its related problems, we want the Association Agreement with the European Union to give a priority to the protection of our conditions of life. These considerations are fundamental for “living well,” as indigenous communities propose for all living beings, and to which the logic of productivity and profit must be subordinated. As a result we can not consider agriculture, environmental services, biodiversity and knowledge as simple commodities in a trade agreement.

We hope that from these negotiations, a strategic alliance emerges between the European Union and the Community of Andean Nations that does not reproduce neocolonial relationships and which contributes to improving the development of our peoples in harmony with nature, taking advantage of the complementarity that exists between our regions at a human, environmental and energy level, which goes further than a mere trade exchange based on the logic of competition.

We want to promote a new era in economic relations between our regions. We want an association based on solidarity and complementarity, that is not at the service of a logic of global liberalization. We hope that there is an understanding of the reality that our country and the indigenous peoples of the Andean region are living, and that this is reflected adequately in the negotiation mandates that the European Union adopts.

I wish to take this opportunity to reiterate my sincerest greetings.

Evo Morales Ayma