Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06LAPAZ902
2006-03-30 20:19:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy La Paz
Cable title:
LLOYD EMPLOYEES BLOCK RUNWAYS, DEMAND GOB
how-toVZCZCXYZ0002 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHLP #0902 0892019 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 302019Z MAR 06 FM AMEMBASSY LA PAZ TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8682 INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 5745 RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 3023 RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 6895 RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 4132 RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1445 RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 1388 RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 1682 RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 3699 RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 4085 RUEHSG/AMEMQSSY SANTIAGO 8622 RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON DC RUEANHA/FAA NATIONAL HQ WASHINGTON DC RUEAYVF/FAA MIAMI ARTCC MIAMI FL RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
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
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
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