Bolivian protesters march on U.S. Embassy

Thousands demand extradition of former defense minister

Bolivian police officers clash with demonstrators outside the U.S. embassy in La Paz Monday, June 9, 2008. Thousands marched Monday to protest U.S. decision to grant political asylum to a former Bolivian defense minister who fled the country during violent 2003 protests that killed at least 60 people _ most shot by troops under his command.

10 June 2008

LA PAZ, Bolivia - Thousands of demonstrators marched on the U.S. Embassy Monday to demand that Washington extradite a former Bolivian defense minister who directed a military crackdown on riots that killed at least 60 people in 2003.

Former Defense Minister Carlos Sanchez Berzain, now a resident of Key Biscayne, Fla., told La Paz-based Radio Fides last week that the United States granted him political asylum more than a year ago.

The revelation sparked outrage in El Alto, a sprawling satellite city outside La Paz where dozens of anti-government rioters were gunned down by soldiers in 2003. On Monday, thousands of residents streamed down the hills into La Paz to demand justice for the killings.

"We've come to the doors of the embassy to say 'Enough with the impunity,'" said Edgar Patana, head of an El Alto labor union leading the protest. "The United States has to prove that they have the justice they're always showing off in their media and movies. Bolivia wants that justice."

Police use tear gas
Protesters shot fireworks at a U.S. flag flying just beyond the compound's concrete wall, as helmeted Marines looked on from the embassy's roof. When crowds tried to push through a police line, officers cleared the street with tear gas.

Bolivia's government called the use of tear gas excessive. "Security is one thing, repression is another," Government Minister Alfredo Rada told reporters.

La Paz state's police commander was fired Monday night along with top policemen in Bolivia's eight other states. But government officials said the change had been planned since a new national police chief was named last month.

The 2003 "Black October" protests were initially sparked by a government plan to sell Bolivian natural gas to the United States by building a pipeline through neighboring rival Chile. The idea angered El Alto's poor, who often struggle to obtain their own gas for cooking and heating.

The protests quickly snowballed as the city's largely Aymara Indian population vented centuries of anger over bitter poverty and political marginalization.

The uprising eventually drove then-President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada from office, fortifying a growing indigenous political movement that brought President Evo Morales to power two years later.

Sanchez Berzain's lawyer, Howard Gutman, declined Monday to confirm whether his client has been granted political asylum. But he and other lawyers acknowledge and cite Sanchez Berzain's asylum status in a motion filed last month in a Miami federal court to dismiss a U.S. civil case against him.

Accusations of deadly force
Plaintiffs, including families of the 2003 victims, accuse the former defense minister and the ex-president of authorizing the use of deadly force against protesters and say they are liable for the deaths.

Lawyers for the two exiled politicians say protesters instigated the violence and that their blockade of La Paz, which cut the capital off from food and fuel, justified a military response.

Their legal team includes Washington attorney Greg Craig, an adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Asked for comment, Phillip Goldberg, the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, said the legal proceeding is "not a political matter, it's a judicial matter, and we have to respect the independent judicial branch in the United States."

President Evo Morales repeated his demands that Washington send the two men home to face trial.

"We want the United States to help us to bring to justice those who have done so much harm to Bolivia," Morales said Sunday.

Chilean volcano erupts for first time since 7420 B.C.

2 May 2008

Video

A volcano erupted in southern Chile on Friday, triggering earth tremors and spewing a cloud of ash 2 miles (3 km) into the air that prompted the evacuation of hundreds of people from the remote area, officials said.

Residents said ash fell over the picturesque Patagonian town of Chaiten, 760 miles (1,220 km) south of the capital Santiago and just 6 miles (10 km) from the volcano.

Trucks with drinking water were dispatched to the area after ash tainted water supplies, authorities said. Some schools were closed and hospitals treated people for irritated eyes and breathing difficulties.

A boat was sent to the region to evacuate hundreds of people, many of whom live scattered on small islands that make up southernmost Chile.

"We felt the movements and can see the ash falling in town," Sara Ruiz, a receptionist at municipal offices in Chaiten told Reuters by telephone.

The national emergency office initially identified the source of the ash as the volcano Michimahuida, but later said it was Chaiten, which has the same name as the town. The office called the event an eruption.

Local television broadcast aerial footage showing ash cloaking mountain ridges. Visibility was poor, and in some areas thick ash settled on the ground and caked vehicles.

"We haven't been able to sleep. There have been many tremors," one woman told local television. "We are very afraid."

In Santiago, President Michelle Bachelet appealed for calm.

"Chile is a volcanic country, and I want to say that we are working and coordinating with all our might at a local and national level and call for calm," she said.

Across the nearby border in Argentina, authorities in Chubut province asked residents to avoid rubbing their eyes and to wear glasses and long sleeves to avoid ash making contact with skin.

Of Chile 2,000 volcanoes, some 500 are potentially active, according to scientists. About 60 have erupted over the centuries, and 40 could do so, they say.

Chile is home to two of Latin America's most active volcanoes -- Villarica and Llaima.

Llaima, about 435 miles (700 km) south of Santiago, erupted on New Year's Day, spewing ash and molten lava and forcing the evacuation of dozens of tourists and staff from a wilderness park.

It also belched ash in February and lava crept down its slopes.

Proclamation by the President To Modify the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States and for Other Purposes

President George W. Bush shakes hands with troops following his event in Freehold, New Jersey Friday, March 28, 2008, at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. White House photo by Chris Greenberg. (President Bush Discusses Housing, Economy)

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 28, 2008

A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

1. Section 1205(a) of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (the "1988 Act") (19 U.S.C. 3005(a)) directs the United States International Trade Commission (the "Commission") to keep the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) under continuous review and periodically to recommend to the President such modifications to the HTS as the Commission considers necessary or appropriate to accomplish the purposes set forth in that subsection. In 2006, the Commission recommended modifications to the HTS pursuant to section 1205 of the 1988 Act to conform the HTS to amendments made to the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (the "Convention"). In Presidential Proclamation 8097 of December 29, 2006, I modified the HTS pursuant to section 1206(a) of the 1988 Act (19 U.S.C. 3006(a)) to conform the HTS to the Convention.

2. The Commission has recommended further modifications to the HTS pursuant to sections 1205(a) and (d) of the 1988 Act (19 U.S.C. 3005(a) and (d)) to alleviate unnecessary administrative burdens, and to ensure that the prior modifications proclaimed in Proclamation 8097 maintain substantial rate neutrality.

3. Section 1206(a) of the 1988 Act authorizes the President to proclaim modifications to the HTS based on the recommendations of the Commission under section 1205 of the 1988 Act, if he determines that the modifications are in conformity with United States obligations under the Convention and do not run counter to the national economic interest of the United States. I have determined that the modifications to the HTS proclaimed in this proclamation pursuant to section 1206(a) of the 1988 Act are in conformity with United States obligations under the Convention and do not run counter to the national economic interest of the United States.

4. Presidential Proclamation 7746 of December 30, 2003, implemented the United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement with respect to the United States, and Presidential Proclamation 7747 of December 30, 2003, implemented the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement with respect to the United States. In Presidential Proclamation 8097, I proclaimed modifications to the HTS that I determined were necessary or appropriate to continue to carry out the duty reductions proclaimed in Proclamations 7746 and 7747.

5. In Presidential Proclamation 8214 of December 27, 2007, I further modified the HTS pursuant to section 1206(a) of the 1988 Act to ensure the continuation of tariff and certain other treatment accorded originating goods under tariff categories modified in Proclamation 8097 and to carry out the duty reductions proclaimed in Proclamations 7746 and 7747. Technical rectifications to the HTS are required to provide the intended tariff treatment.

6. On August 5, 2004, the United States entered into the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) with Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The Congress approved the CAFTA-DR in section 101(a) of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (the "CAFTA-DR Act") (19 U.S.C. 4011).

7. Sections 321-328 of the CAFTA-DR Act (19 U.S.C. 4081-4088) authorize the President to take certain actions in response to a request by an interested party for relief from serious damage or actual threat thereof to a domestic industry producing certain textile or apparel articles. I assigned certain functions under these provisions to the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) in Proclamation 7987 of February 28, 2006.

8. Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended, established CITA, consisting of representatives of the Departments of State, the Treasury, Commerce, and Labor, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative, with the representative of the Department of Commerce as Chairman, to supervise the implementation of textile trade agreements. Consistent with 3 U.S.C. 301, when carrying out functions vested in the President by statute and assigned by the President to CITA, the officials collectively exercising those functions are all to be officers required to be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.

9. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the "Trade Act") (19 U.S.C. 2483), authorizes the President to embody in the HTS the substance of the provisions of that Act, and of other Acts affecting import treatment, and actions thereunder, including removal, modification, continuance, or imposition of any rate of duty or other import restriction.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, acting under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including but not limited to section 1206 of the 1988 Act, sections 321-328 of the CAFTA-DR Act, section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and section 604 of the Trade Act do proclaim that:

(1) In order to modify the HTS to conform it to the Convention or any amendment thereto recommended for adoption, to promote the uniform application of the Convention, to establish additional subordinate tariff categories, and to make technical and conforming changes to existing provisions, the HTS is modified as set forth in Annex I to this proclamation.

(2) In order to provide the intended tariff treatment to imports of originating goods from Chile, the HTS is modified as set out in section A of Annex II to this proclamation.

(3) In order to provide the intended tariff treatment to imports of originating goods from Singapore, the HTS is modified as set out in section B of Annex II to this proclamation.

(4) The CITA is authorized to exercise my authority under sections 321-328 of the CAFTA-DR Act to provide relief from imports that are the subject of a determination under section 322(a) of the CAFTA-DR Act, to the extent necessary to remedy or prevent serious damage and to facilitate adjustment by the domestic industry.

(5) The United States Trade Representative shall modify the HTS in a notice published in the Federal Register to reflect determinations pursuant to paragraph (4) of this proclamation by the CITA.

(6) Any provisions of previous proclamations and Executive Orders that are inconsistent with the actions taken in this proclamation are superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.

(7) The modifications to the HTS set forth in Annex I and Annex II to this proclamation shall be effective with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the respective dates specified in each section of such Annexes for the goods described therein.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.

GEORGE W. BUSH