MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Morales back steps and hopes to travel to the US

Bolivian President Evo Morales hopes to travel to Washington to ask Congress to extend trade preferences set to expire at the end of the year, a government official said in La Paz.

Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca made the announcement as political pressure mounts on Morales to ensure the 380 million US dollars worth of exports are not lost.

US officials have anticipated it is unlikely Congress will extend legislation expiring at the end of the year that has offered zero tariffs for several Bolivian products exported to the U.S since 2002.

U.S. officials say they would rather see Bolivia join Peru and Colombia in signing bilateral free-trade agreements.

U.S. Ambassador David Greenlee met with President Morales this week, but the embassy said in a statement that they "have not received any official request or any information about the desire of President Morales to travel to the U.S."

Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president often refers to the US as "the empire" and during his five months in office accused Washington of conspiring to destabilize his administration and has forged close ties with Cuba and Venezuela.

Previously Morales said he would "never" negotiate a free-trade agreement with the U.S., but the government has backtracked, with two government ministers saying recently they are open to a limited trade agreement with Washington. Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera is expected to lead a delegation of business leaders next month on a trip to Washington to lobby for an extension.