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Bolivian President: U.S. protectionism aims to "protect" businesses, not workers

Xinhua, February 2, 2017 Adjust font size:

The protectionist policies touted by U.S. President Donald Trump aims to "protect" the private sector, not the working class, Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Wednesday.

"They protect the business owners," Morales said in an address to his new cabinet.

"We are also protectionists, but of the country's workers. That is the profound difference" between the two governments, said Morales.

Bolivia implements protectionist policies "with complementarity, solidarity and reciprocity," said Morales, a leader of a coca-growers union who rose to prominence by defending workers' rights.

Referring to Trump's decision to build a wall along his country's southern border with Mexico, Morales said, "there are walls for the poor and for the people, but there are no walls for mining or oil companies ... so they can plunder natural resources."

Trump has repeatedly proposed applying tariffs on imports to protect U.S. industry, and even as a way to pay for the wall. Enditem