LLOYD EMPLOYEES BLOCK RUNWAYS, DEMAND GOB

UNCLAS LA PAZ 000902 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EB/TRA JHORWITZ AND EB/TRA/OTP BMATTINGLEY STATE ALSO FOR WHA/AND LPETRONI STATE PASS TO FAA MIAMI FOR LHART STATE PASS TO DOT FOR CCOLDREN COMMERCE FOR JANGLIN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR ECON PGOV BL SUBJECT: LLOYD EMPLOYEES BLOCK RUNWAYS, DEMAND GOB INTERVENTION REF: LA PAZ 870 ¶1. (U) Lloyd Aero Boliviano employees blocked airport runways in La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz today, March 30, calling on the GOB to resume the intervention it suspended on March 24 (reftel). Police used tear gas to disperse protesters and clear runways in Cochabamba, but demonstrators continue to picket Lloyd offices and block passenger and staff access to boarding gates. In Santa Cruz, Lloyd employees parked two aircraft across the principal runway, blocking arrivals and departures and preventing the take-off of American Airlines' regular flight. ¶2. (U) Lloyd employees say they will not work for the company's chief executive, Ernesto Asbun, whom they consider responsible for Lloyd's estimated $170 million debts to parts and services suppliers, aircraft leasing companies, the national treasury, pension funds, and Lloyd employees. Some workers have argued that nationalization is the only way to prevent Lloyd's total collapse, an outcome that seems increasingly likely given the airline's inability to buy the very fuel it needs to operate. ¶3. (SBU) Comment: Lloyd employees' actions have steadily escalated since the GOB relinquished control of the airline, placing increasing pressure on GOB officials to act to resolve the crisis. The conflict may be a test of the GOB's ability to meet social groups' demands; coupled with marches of teachers, health workers, and transport unions, Lloyd employees' runway blockades lend support to a disturbing picture of a country sliding toward familiar ungovernability. With over 2,000 jobs at stake, it is clear the GOB must do something to calm the uproar, but it is far from clear what that "something" is. End comment. GREENLEE