RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The government said that two airports in Bolivia, including the Santa Cruz (East) International Airport, the country’s most important, were paralyzed Thursday by a strike over workers’ demands.
“It is an illegal strike at the airports of Viru Viru (Santa Cruz, East Bolivia) and Trinidad, capital of the Amazon department of Beni (Northeast),” said Public Works Minister Edgar Montaño.
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Viru Viru is Bolivia’s main international airport, while Trinidad is used only for domestic flights.
The main demand of workers at the state-owned Administración de Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares a la Navegación Aérea (AASANA) is the dismissal of director Herminda Choque and agreement on plans to restructure the company.
Minister Montaño stated that because of the strike, “there has already been an economic loss of more than half a million bolivianos,” about US$72,000, and ruled out the departure of Choque. He expected new meetings with the union to resolve the dispute.
The authority asserted that the workers’ strike had “obvious political undertones” because “they are right now in Santa Cruz and Beni,” two regions governed by opposition parties.