Brussels, 12/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 9 June, Bolivian President Evo Morales condemned the returns directive which is soon to be discussed by the European Parliament. “If Europe repatriates Bolivians, Bolivia could require Europeans to apply for visas and suspend negotiations on a trade agreement between the EU and the Community of Andean Nations (CAN),” he warned in a letter to the European Parliament. The returns directive is, in the view of Morales, “a shameful directive”. He said that Bolivians worked in sectors where Europeans did not want to work (construction, services and hospitals). However, “millions of Europeans have come to North and South America to exploit its riches and transfer them to Europe,” he went on, adding that the transfer of Bolivian wealth to the EU was more than 10% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and was thus helping Europe develop. Up to 500,000 Bolivians could be living in the various countries of Europe (B.C./transl.rt)