BOLIVIA: INPUT FOR REVIEW OF TITLE III OF THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 001138 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CCA AND WHA/AND LPETRONI E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/17/2016 TAGS: ETRD ETTC PREL CU BL SUBJECT: BOLIVIA: INPUT FOR REVIEW OF TITLE III OF THE LIBERTAD ACT REF: STATE 57782 Classified By: Amb. David N. Greenlee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) (C) The following responses are keyed to the questions in reftel: -- Bolivia has no significant investments in Cuba. -- Bolivia and Cuba signed a limited Economic Cooperation Agreement in May 1995. The accord offers preferential tariff treatment to specified goods from each country, but bilateral trade has not increased significantly since the agreement was signed. News reports indicate Bolivian exports to Cuba totaled only $5,000 in 2005. The GOB is in the early stages of discussing a "People's Trade Agreement" with Cuba and Venezuela. -- Cuba offers limited scholarships to Bolivian students seeking to study at Cuban universities. Cuba has paid for several dozen Bolivians to travel to Cuba for eye surgeries and other medical treatment, and several hundred Cuban doctors are working in Bolivia. -- The GOB has not worked to promote the advancement of democracy and human rights in Cuba. The GOB is increasingly aligned with the Cuban government and is not likely to make any public statements that would be critical of human rights abuses in Cuba, to support civil society, or to take any other actions which could be perceived as subversive by the Cuban government. -- Castro did not attend President Morales' January 23 inauguration but sent Vice President Carlos Lage. On President-elect Morales' first international tour, his first stop was Cuba. GREENLEE