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Resist the FTAA
RESIST THE FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS (FTAA)
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(note: for more trade-related articles, see the archives at bilaterals.org and at the Trade Observatory site).
Bush Departs Without a Deal (Nov. 5, 2005 / Washington Post) ; Americas leaders fail to end free-trade stalemate (Nov. 5, 2005 / Reuters); Summit of Americas ends in deadlock (Nov. 5, 2005 / CBC)
Chávez: We are in Mar del Plata to attend funeral for FTAA (Nov. 4, 2005 / eluniversal.com); Chávez, Maradona and Morales observe one-minute silence for FTAA burial (Nov. 4, 2005 / eluniversal.com)
Hargrove Warns Against Free Trade of the Americas (Oct. 20, 2005 / CAW NewsNow)
Argentina : Stop the FTAA! The 3rd People's Summit of the Americas (Oct. 4, 2005 / Global Exchange)
Silva: Free Trade Zone 'Off the Agenda' (April 20, 2005 / AP) "...'For two years, FTAA has not been discussed in Brazil, because we took it off the agenda,' Silva said, according to a text of his remarks released by the presidential press office. Instead, Brazil has focused on strengthening trade ties among its Latin American neighbors and with the Mercosur trade bloc made up of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay..."; Senator battles funding for FTAA (April 23, 2005 / Miami Herald) "Sen. Mike Fasano... said President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's remarks that the FTAA is a low priority for Brazil will only help his effort to strip $525,000 in funding for Florida FTAA, the group lobbying to have Miami named as the headquarters for the proposed hemispheric trade pact.
... Gov. Jeb Bush had asked lawmakers for $3.68 million for international efforts, including Florida FTAA and numerous bilateral and regional trade programs, in his budget request.,,, [Sen. Mike] Fasano's criticism centered on expenditures such as $70,000 for airplane tickets, and what he believed were high costs for marketing, public relations, telecommunications, office space...."
Chavez: 'Mr. Danger' focused on Venezuela (April 20, 2005 / AP) "Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez reiterated his opposition to the Free Trade Area of the Americas on Tuesday, saying his stance seems to concern "Mr. Danger" -- an apparent reference to U.S. President George W. Bush. Chavez made the comment as he announced he will join Cuban President Fidel Castro in Havana later this month for a meeting of Cuban and Venezuelan business executives. The meeting is to be held from April 27-30. Chavez told businesspeople at a similar gathering Tuesday night that the visit was intended to help boost an alternative to the U.S.-backed FTAA, which he has called the Bolivarian Alternative for America...."
U.S. battle ensues over CAFTA (April 14, 2005 / Miami Herald) "Launching a Congressional trade battle that promises to be the fiercest since NAFTA was approved 11 years ago, a Senate committee Wednesday opened hearings on a free trade pact with Central America and the Dominican Republic.... 'This could really be the final nail in the coffin [of FTAA] and it would complicate other bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations,' said Jeffrey Schott, a trade specialist with the Institute for International Economics.... The administration is between 30 and 40 votes short of the 218 needed to pass CAFTA in the House, said Lori Wallach, the director of Global Trade Watch with Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group that opposes CAFTA. Fewer than 10 Democrats support CAFTA, she said."
Is the FTAA dead, or just resting? (Jan. 6, 2004 / Rabble.ca) "There is a Monty Python sketch in which a customer in a pet store argues with the owner over the state of a parrot — motionless and apparently deceased. The customer insists that the bird is dead; the owner declares it is just “resting.” Replace the bird in question with the Free Trade Area of the Americas and you have the current situation facing what was to have been the most ambitious free trade agreement in the world. The deadline for the deal passed almost unnoticed last Saturday and had long since been dismissed as unattainable. In fact negotiations have been “resting” for over a year with no new meetings scheduled...."
FTAA Negotiations Miss Jan. 1, 2005, Completion Deadline; Free Trade Theory Runs Aground on Reality of NAFTA’s Harsh Results (Dec. 21, 2004 / Public Citizen)
Free trade deal bad for Latin America (Nov. 27, 2004 / Sun News) "The protests in Santiago, Chile, against President Bush should have come as no surprise. Many Latin Americans are angry at Washington for imposing free-market policies that have created social and economic hardships for a majority of the population in Latin America...."
Stalled trade negotiations (Nov. 11, 2004 / Miami Herald) "A year after a hectic hemispheric trade summit in Miami -- crowned by a political compromise to keep the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas on track -- regional trade negotiations have gone nowhere.... [The] momentum for a hemisphere-wide trade alliance among 34 nations has stalled, and regional trade negotiators have not even met since February. They will miss a year-end deadline to wrap up the trade and investment treaty. 'These negotiations are reduced to the point of charade,' said Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland...."
Chances for FTAA appear 'on life support' (Oct. 15, 2004 / South Florida Business Journal) "Time's up for the Free Trade Area of the Americas, said Tony Villamil, CEO of the Washington Economics Group in Coral Gables and vice chairman of Florida FTAA, the non-profit group behind Miami's bid for the trade pact's administrative headquarters.... Florida International University's Summit of the Americas Center Director Carl Cira offered little optimism on the pact: 'I don't want to say it's dead, but it's on life support at this point.'..."
With FTAA Talks Shut Down, Critical 9/30 Market Access Deadline Set at MiamiMinisterial Passes (Sept. 30, 2004 / Public Citizen) "Only Certainty for FTAA’s Future Is That the December 2004 FTAA Completion Deadline Won’t Be Met as Disagreement Continues Over Scope, Vision of Any Hemispheric Integration Deal...."
Chavez: the FTAA is dead (July 9, 2004 / RadioMundoReal) “Luckily, the FTAA, as I see it, is already dead, as happened with Cid Campeador, who died in the battle but his dead body was tied to his horse to made his enemies believe he was alive”, said Chavez.
Knolly Clarke knocks FTAA (June 21, 2004 / Trinidad and Tobago Express) "Rev Knolly Clarke, former Dean of the Anglican Cathedral has come out against the Free Trade Area of the Americas, claiming that it did not belong to Trinidad and was designed by the United States to dominate small countries...."
FTAA nudged from spotlight by other free-trade deals (June 17, 2004 / South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
Gorbachev Criticizes U.S. Trade Policies (May 8, 2004 / AP) The former Soviet leader said that free-trade economic policies set in Washington have led to "uncontrolled globalization" that mainly benefits "those who had the advantages in the first place."
FTAA still at an impasse (May 5, 2004 / Miami Herald) "...The delays by the Trade Negotiations Committee in completing procedures to finish the negotiations have raised doubts as to whether negotiators can meet the year-end deadline for reaching a FTAA accord. The United States, meanwhile, has launched a series of trade negotiations with individual countries around the world. On Monday, Washington announced the start of talks with Ecuador and Peru."
Brazil's win at WTO could affect FTAA (April 30, 2004 / The Week in Europe) "On April 26, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) made a preliminary ruling that could well change the shape of global trade. It accepted a complaint by Brazil that subsidies paid by the US administration to cotton farmers in its southern states were contrary to the international rules of trade...."; Boll evil? U.S. detractors waging cotton tug of war (May 5, 2004 / Miami Herald)
April's Americas free trade talks suspended due to farm subsidy row (April 1, 2004 / CP); Americas Trade Plan 'Dead,' Venezuela's Chavez Says (April 2, 2004 / Reuters); FTAA '05 deadline in jeopardy (April 2, 2004 / Miami Herald) Negotiators fail for third time this year to end an impasse for talks aimed at creating a Free Trade Area of the Americas... "Given the deep deadlock between blocs of countries with opposing views of what an FTAA should be, it is amazing that the Bush administration still insists that the FTAA is alive," said Lori Wallach of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch in Washington.
Americas Free-Trade Talks at Low Point-Analysts (March 19, 2004 / Reuters) "No one wants to be blamed for the impasse after 10 years of talks, analysts said. "It's as if there was a corpse in the room and no one wanted to be the first to point it out," said Paulo Nogueira Batista, an economist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a Brazilian economic think tank...."
Argentina Foreign Ministry: FTAA Talks Delayed Until April (March 10, 2004 / DowJones); FTAA negotiations postponed for a month (March 11, 2004 / MercoPress); Official: Free Trade Talks Hit Snag (March 10, 2004 / AP)
Canada Won't Lift Dairy, Poultry Trade Barriers (March 10, 2004 / Reuters)
RCMP rejects report findings of "excessive force" against protesters (Feb. 25, 2004 / CP) "RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli should be fired for flouting key parts of a Mountie watchdog report that found excessive force was used at the 2001 Summit of the Americas, says New Democrat MP Svend Robinson...."
Stopping the FTAA: Venezuela (Feb. 25, 2004 / ZNet)
Free trade raises concerns (Feb. 19, 2004 / Miami Herald)
Agribusiness Frets Over Prospect of Weak FTAA (Feb. 16, 2004 / IPS)
U.S. to Seek 14-Country Trade Deal Within FTAA (Feb. 7, 2004 / Reuters)
Talks end much as they began (Feb. 7, 2004 / Miami Herald); Americas Trade Talks Suspended Amid Impasse (Feb. 6, 2004 / Reuters); No Deal in Free Trade of Americas Talks (Feb. 6, 2004 / AP); Region-wide agreement in doubt as trade talks stall over tariffs (Feb. 9, 2004 / Financial Times)
Brazil, U.S. deadlocked on eve of FTAA deadline (Feb. 6, 2004 / Miami Herald)
FTAA negotiators build on lean frame (Feb. 5, 2004 / Miami Herald)
Free Trade Accord Talks Stall in Mexico (Feb. 5, 2004 / AP) "...The prospect that the talks could fail — or result in a preliminary agreement so vague as to be meaningless — cheered an estimated 1,000 anti-globalization protesters who marched and briefly confronted police outside the hemispheric meeting of vice ministers...."
Mexico FTAA talks hit bumps in race for Jan accord (Feb. 4, 2004 / Reuters); Watered down? A fear at sit-down (Feb. 4, 2004 / Miami Herald) "Crucial negotiations for crafting a hemispheric trade bloc got underway Tuesday in Mexico, but the proposals under discussion were so limited in scope that some observers said they bore little resemblance to the original plan to open the Americas to free trade...." Pedro de Camargo Neto, a former Brazilian trade negotiator now with the Sociedad Rural Brasileira, summed up the latest proposals in one compact phrase: ''There is no trade involved.''
Nations Pushing for Americas Trade Deal by January (Feb. 3, 2004 / Reuters) Puebla, Mexico: "A proposal from the United States, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico was presented to the South American Mercosur trade bloc in recent days.... The Brazilian government has urged Andean nations not to enter a free-trade deal unless the United States scales back tariffs and domestic subsidies that protect U.S. farmers from competitive Latin American producers...."
Missed opportunities form backdrop for next negotiation round (Feb. 1, 2004 / Miami Herald)
Laser-Guided Liberalization and Latin America (Jan. 31, 2004 / ZNet) "...Laser-guided liberalization -- bilateral deals -- allows the US to single out selected countries from Mercosur and CAN, and restrict the potential for alliances like the G21 to stand up to US bullying and double standards at the WTO...."
Anti-FTAA Activists Plan Protests to Kill Pact (Jan. 31, 2004 / Reuters) "...The first protest is set for March 20 to coincide with world demonstrations against the U.S. invasion of Iraq called by an anti-globalization meeting in Bombay last week. Other protests are planned for April 24, to mark the 60th anniversary of the IMF and the World Bank, and Aug 29, on the eve of the Republican National Convention in New York, when activists plan to demonstrate against Bush outside U.S. embassies in their countries...."
Venezuela says Jan 2005 FTAA target doomed to fail (Jan. 30, 2004 / Reuters); State Department: Chavez, Castro won't derail FTAA plans (Jan. 30, 2004 / AP)
Changed tactics and new dangers (Jan. 27, 2004 / Granma); Upbeat Anti-FTAA Activists Meet in Cuba (Jan. 26, 2004 / Reuters)
Search for HQ slips off Puebla agenda (Jan. 24, 2004 / Miami Herald) "...Organizers of the local bid to land the regional trade pact's secretariat said they had planned to make a presentation on the merits of Miami at the Feb. 2-7 meeting. Instead, they were informed that the topic was no longer on the list...."
NAFTA and Remittances (Jan. 21, 2004 / ZNet) "...Victor Hanson a Professor at Cal State Fresno argues that ‘Mexico...stays afloat by exporting human capital [remittances]. If you shut that border down, in five years you’d have a revolution, because Mexico can’t meet the aspirations of its own people.'.... "
U.S. Makes Trade Concessions at Summit (Jan. 13, 2004 / AP) "Protesters also criticized the United States, hanging an effigy of Bush on a security barrier and burning it before a wall of riot police.... The United States had sought a 2005 deadline for the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The summit's final declaration calls for following the FTAA's "established timetable," with no specific date mentioned.... In addition, the document does not call for banning corrupt governments from future summits, as the United States requested. Instead, the declaration only calls for consultations on countries that don't meet the requirements of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption...." ; Bush scrambles to keep free trade plans on track at Americas summit (Jan. 13, 2004 / AFP); Major rifts dog Americas summit (Jan. 13, 2004 / BBC) ; NAFTA partners prescribe free trade for the poverty ailing Latin America (Jan. 13, 2004 / AFP); Bush to encounter Latin America's new left at Monterrey summit (Jan. 12, 2004 / AP); PM Martin says he'll take a Canadian approach in talks with Bush in Mexico (Jan. 12, 2004 / CP); Canada Says Trying to Bridge Gaps Over FTAA Deal America (Jan. 12, 2003 / Reuters); Martin casts doubt on FTAA deadline; stresses bilateral deals (Jan. 11, 2003 / CP); Americas Summit Begins With Deep Splits (Jan. 11, 2004 / AP)
North American Trade Deal Dismal After a Decade (Dec. 29, 2003 / IPS) "... according to a recent report by the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE), NAFTA has displaced 1.75 million Mexican farmers from their land, forcing them to migrate to the cities or the United States...." Good article with many key statistics...
Free Trade Accord at 10: Growing Pains Are Clear (Dec. 27, 2003 / New York Times)
New CAFTA Agreement Faces Strong, Broad-Based Opposition (Dec. 18, 2003 / IPS)
Labor Unions to Fight Free Trade Deal (Dec. 18, 2003 / AP) "The Bush administration is hailing [CAFTA] as an important milestone toward the even bigger prize of achieving a hemisphere-wide free trade area. But labor unions are vowing an all-out effort to defeat the measure in Congress. Judging from the initial reaction from unions and such politically sensitive sectors of the economy as textile makers and sugar growers, President Bush could be facing a major trade battle on Capitol Hill in the midst of next year's presidential campaign. The Central American Free Trade Agreement would be the United States' sixth free trade agreement, all modeled along the lines of the 10-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which links the United States, Mexico and Canada. The CAFTA pact announced Wednesday would cover Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. A fifth nation, Costa Rica, abruptly dropped out of the talks on Tuesday...."
NAFTA Is Not Enough (Dec. 17, 2003 / World Bank)
Ducking (Nov. 29, 2003 / Financial Times) After whining a lot about the FTAA defeat in Miami, Peter Hakim (president of the pro-FTAA Inter-American Dialogue) concludes: "... there is still time for repairs. The best opportunity may come in January, when the heads of state of all 34 FTAA nations are due to assemble again in Mexico. Although trade is not on the agenda, it would be the right time for the hemisphere's leaders to get the FTAA negotiations back on track...."
Free trade must be fair to labor (Nov. 22, 2003 / South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
More trade pact angst after NAFTA (Nov. 26, 2003 / South Florida Business Journal)
Brazil rises to powerful role in trade diplomacy (Nov. 23, 2003 / Miami Herald)
Facing Realities (Nov. 22, 2003 / South Florida Sun-Sentinel) "Free trade talks in Miami officially ended a day early with a watered-down compromise. In reality, the talks aimed at pushing toward a Free Trade Area of the Americas stalled in September during a World Trade Organization meeting in Cancun, Mexico. For that matter, the ambitious FTAA proposal has been doomed since the late 1990s...."
Protesters decry FTAA in Argentina (Nov. 21, 2003 / AP); Argentine Anti-Trade Protesters Clash with Police (Nov. 20, 2003 / Reuters)
Free-Trade Summit Ends Without Pact (Nov. 21, 2003 / Los Angeles Times); Brazil's strategy trumped America's, observers say (Nov. 21, 2003 / Miami Herald)
Weak FTAA ends with a whimper (Nov. 21, 2003 / Calgary Herald)
Trade Talks End in Vague Accord (Nov. 21, 2003 / Washington Post); Americas trade talks end early (Nov. 21, 2003 / BBC); Trade ministers from across Americas agree to move forward on FTAA (Nov. 21, 2003 / AP); New Doubts About Bush Trade Agenda (Nov. 21, 2003 / Washington Post);
A rallying cry: Halt the loss of jobs (Nov. 21, 2003 / Miami Herald)
Brazil blocks full free trade (Nov. 21, 2003 / CanWest)
FTAA talks end early (Nov. 21, 2003 / Globe&Mail) "...Canadian Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said he was unfazed by the protests because he couldn't see or hear them from inside the heavily fortified Intercontinental Hotel where talks were taking place. 'We don't sense their presence at all,' Mr. Pettigrew said of the protesters...."
Accord minimal entre États américains pour une zone de libre-échange (21 nov. 2003 / AFP); Tollé contre une ZLEA à la carte (21 nov., 2003 / LaPresse);
Venezuela unfazed by omission in U.S. talks (Nov. 21, 2003 / Miami Herald)
The Beginning of the End of the FTAA: Crisis Leads to Scaling Back, Punting Hard Decisions With No Instructions to Overcome Differences (Nov. 20, 2003 / Public Citizen); Original FTAA vision scrapped as people pour into Miami for the anti-free trade protest (Nov. 20, 2003 / Focus on the Global South); “Buffet-Style” FTAA Leaves Corporate Lobbyists Going Home Hungry (Nov. 20, 2003 / Global Exchange); FTAA summit ends early as ministers agree to scaled-down plan (Nov. 20, 2003 / Miami Herald); Trade draft criticized as diluted (Nov. 20, 2003 / Miami Herald); Canada Trade Min: New FTAA Framework May Be Ready Thursday (Nov. 20, 2003 / DowJones)
Labor union goal: Revise FTAA pact or stop it cold (Nov. 20, 2003 / South Florida Sun-Sentinel); Hemisphere’s labor leaders denounce FTAA pact (Nov. 19, 2003 / South Florida Sun-Sentinel) "...The Economic Policy Institute...on Monday released a study that showed the United States has lost 879,280 jobs even accounting for jobs gained - as a result of NAFTA since 1993. Florida was among 10 states hardest-hit in NAFTA job losses.... In Mexico, employment gains in export manufacturing were wiped out by the large job losses in agriculture and domestic manufacturing. And real wages for most Mexicans are lower today than when NAFTA took effect. NAFTA also likely affected U.S. wages -- to the detriment of unskilled and semiskilled workers as good-paying factory jobs were lost to relocations...."
Pacts imperil South Florida water safety (Nov. 20, 2003 / South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
Brazil takes exception to U.S. Andes talk (Nov. 20, 2003 / Reuters)
Healthcare professionals voice their fears (Nov. 20, 2003 / Miami Herald)
Un NON à la ZLEA (19 nov. 2003 / Le Devoir)
Trade negotiators in Miami adopt a buffet-style draft text for FTAA (Nov. 19, 2003 / CP); Negotiators Adopt Free-Trade Zone Draft (Nov. 19, 2003 / AP); Canada grudgingly set to take lighter trade deal (Nov. 19, 2003 / Globe&Mail); FTAA Draft "Not Interesting" For Most Countries - Chile (Nov. 19, 2003 / DowJones); Brazil Foreign Min Lauds FTAA Compromise Agreement (Nov. 19, 2003 / DowJones); U.S. Says Broad Americas Pact Still Possible by 2005 (Nov. 19, 2003 / Reuters); FTAA blueprint allows countries to avoid key parts of deal (Nov. 19, 2003 / Miami Herald)
If free-trade talks fail, poor countries will suffer most (Nov. 19, 2003 / Gazette) William Watson uses his media privelege to get in the last word after being soundly trounced in an FTAA debate at his home-turf McGill University last week (see: Activists, Professors Square Off at FTAA Panel (Nov. 17, 2003 / McGill Daily); The great FTAA debate (Nov. 18, 2003 / The Link); FTAA lovers and haters butt heads (Nov. 19, 2003 / The Concordian)
Unlikely wide trade gulfs can be bridged: Canada has hope (Nov. 18, 2003 / National Post)
Argentine Officials Say FTAA Accord Not Top Priority (Nov. 18, 2003 / Miami Herald)
Women's Edge Coalition's New Study Demonstrates that NAFTA has Hurt Poor Women in Mexico, FTAA Will Make it Worse (Nov. 18, 2003 / U.S. Newswire) If anyone out there still harbours the illusion that free trade helps the poor, please read this one...
World's largest free-trade area remains elusive (Nov. 18, 2003 / AP) "Canada, Mexico, Chile and several Caribbean countries are circulating a compromise draft aimed at moving forward stalled talks that would create a Free Trade Area of the Americas.... The draft attempts to combine several competing proposals by outlining a two-tiered free trade proposal. It lays out a common agreement, but allows countries to decide whether they want to participate in a second level of negotiations on the controversial issues like investment rules and removing agricultural subsidies and tariffs...."
US Pushes Ahead With Bilateral Trade Pacts at FTAA (Nov. 18, 2003 / Reuters); U.S. to pursue free trade with Andean countries (Nov. 18, 2003 / Palm Beach Post)
Health Before Trade: TOBACCO OUT OF THE FTAA! (Nov. 18, 2003 / Essential Action); Exclude tobacco from Americas trade pact: US lawmakers (Nov. 18, 2003 / AFP)
U.S., Brazil Lock Horns over Future of Trade in Americas (Nov. 17, 2003 / IPS); NGOs, Business Oppose 'Flexible' Trade Deal for Americas (Nov. 17, 2003 / IPS); Brazil sets out terms on scope of trade deal (Nov. 17, 2003 / Financial Times)
Free-Trade Flop? (Nov. 17, 2003 / Mother Jones)
Free-trade zone talks may unravel (Nov. 17, 2003 / Globe&Mail)
Negotiations hit bump over breadth of treaty (Nov. 17, 2003 / Miami Herald) "...During the deputy trade ministers' meeting Sunday, cracks appeared in a carefully crafted consensus between Brazil and the United States to aim for more modest goals. Under their draft, countries could choose which commitments they would make. Chile and Canada countered with a proposal that would penalize countries unwilling to join in completely on tariff reduction or to accept a series of new nontrade issues. Those include greater investor protection, opening their services sectors, new rules for government purchasing and protection of intellectual property.... The dispute over wording reflects deep differences over whether the benefits a country obtains should be conditioned on commitments for opening markets...."; see also: US backs down over free trade in Americas (Nov. 17, 2003 / Financial Times); Miami Trade Talks Hit Their First Snag (Nov. 17, 2003 / AP); Miami Meeting Make or Break Time for Americas Pact (Nov. 17, 2003 / Reuters)
Immigration policy a 'politically sensitive issue' during free trade summit (Nov. 16, 2003 / South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
Air, land and water are at stake during free trade talks (Nov. 16, 2003 / South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
Working toward an integrated Americas (Nov. 16, 2003 / Miami Herald) Editorial outlining Miami Herald's official position on the FTAA: "....The reality is that the world already is globalizing. No one can turn back that tide. Nor should they want to. Our best hope is to prepare for the inevitable future...." Quite Orwellian.
Projection on jobs produced by free trade draws criticism (Nov. 16, 2003 / Miami Herald) ''Ten years of NAFTA have meant 10 years of net losses for American working families,'' says Robert Scott, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, which plans to release on Monday a study titled "The High Cost of Free Trade.'' ''With the flow of jobs and capital out of the United States,'' Scott says, ``all 50 states and the District of Columbia have experienced a net loss of jobs over the decade.'' Let's look for that study on Monday!
U.S., Brazil find balance for negotiations (Nov. 16, 2003 / Miami Herald) "Trade officials from 34 nations began informal talks Saturday on a scaled-back agenda.... on Saturday, the ministers discussed a new five-page text drawn up by the co-chairmen from the United States and Brazil....What is new about the text is that it would establish a piecemeal process with a common set of rules and obligations for all the countries, and a separate set of rules that would be optional for different nations. This set of rules would be the blueprint for the final year of FTAA negotiations...."
Lula's Next Big Fight (Nov. 17-24, 2003 / Time)
New anti-free trade movements spring up over possibility of losing local jobs (Nov. 16, 2003 / South Florida Sun-Sentinel) "...A new anti-free-trade movement is emerging in the U.S. that is better mobilized, more vocal and encompasses more diverse groups -- from laid-off white-collar workers angry about their jobs going offshore to citrus growers in Florida who fear repealing tariffs will drive them out of business...."
Demonstrators condemn trade proposal (Nov. 16, 2003 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Latam Leaders Admit to Failure on Poverty (Nov. 15, 2003 / Reuters) " 'This deal will be the economic and environmental ruin of the region,' indigenous leader Carlos Medina told the Latin American and Iberian leaders, including the King of Spain...."
Would deal rescue the poor or bury them? (Nov. 15, 2003 / Atlanta Journal Consititution) "...Lori Wallach, executive director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, said last week that "millions" of Mexican small farmers lost their livelihoods when NAFTA opened the door to massive U.S. agricultural exports. And, of the 800,000 Mexican maquiladora jobs created under NAFTA, more than half have since moved to lower-wage China, Wallach added...."
Corporate greed cause of job loss, worker says (Nov. 15, 2003 / Knoxville News-Sentinel) "According to TERN [Tennessee Economic Renewal Network ], the Knoxville area has lost 2,160 jobs as a result of NAFTA, and Tennessee has lost more than 25,000 jobs...."
‘Free trade’ scam:‘It’s bad for workers everywhere’ (Nov. 13, 2003 / People's Weekly World) Views of a variety of people on their way to Miami for the upcoming protests...
Democracy comes to Miami (Nov. 14, 2003 / WorkingForChange)
Venezuela refuses to accept free trade (Nov. 13, 2003 / AP) "...Chavez said Venezuelan Commerce Minister Wilmar Castro, who is slated to represent his government at the talks in Miami, will maintain Venezuela's firm position against the FTAA proposal as it stands. A fierce critic of globalization, Chavez has established programs granting low-interest loans to poor farmers so Venezuela, which imports roughly 60 per cent of its food can ease dependence on foreign imports."
The high cost of ‘free trade’ – Maytag workers face plant closing (Nov. 13, 2003 / People's Weekly World) " 'NAFTA allowed Maytag to commit the premeditated murder of our community,' said Dave Bevard, a 30-year veteran of Maytag’s refrigerator plant in Galesburg, Ill. ...In October 2002 Maytag, the third largest appliance maker in the U.S., announced it was closing its Galesburg plant and relocating its operations to a 'maquiladora' in Reynosa, Mexico, by December 2004. In Mexico, it plans to pay manufacturing workers about $2 an hour, far less than the $15 an hour wage the average Galesburg worker makes...."
Business Group Says No to Narrow Americas Pact (Nov. 13, 2003 / Reuters) "John Murphy, vice president for Western Hemisphere affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said U.S. businesses want an ambitious, comprehensive agreement that includes areas such as copyright and patent protection, investment and government procurement in addition to market access...."
God Of Free Trade (Nov. 13, 2003 / TomPaine.com)
Firms play big role in bid for FTAA (Nov. 13, 2003 / Miami Herald) "...Gov. Jeb Bush named former Ambassador Chuck Cobb to head the Ministerial organization as well as Florida FTAA, the group running Miami's campaign for the FTAA headquarters. Cobb has declined to identify Ministerial's donors or release more than a general spending plan for the event. A spokeswoman said the group does plan to name the donors on Friday. But Cobb has said the amounts of the donations would not be disclosed...."
Election-Year Politics Could Complicate Free Trade Talks (Nov. 13, 2003 / NBC)
Ambassador defends talks (Nov. 13, 2003 / AP)
Brazil Negotiator: FTAA Government-Purchase Rules Restrictive (Nov. 12, 2003 / Dow Jones) "...Bahadian said that if Brazil accepted proposals under consideration in the talks, the country would be forced to make concessions on purchases ranging from equipment for the state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro S/A oil company, or Petrobras, to ingredients for public school-lunch programs...."
Trade: The FTAA Gets An 'F' From Women (Nov. 12, 2003 / IPS)
Cities Start Bidding for Americas Trade Area HQ (Nov. 12, 2003 / Reuters)
Americas free-trade zone could be "anorexic" at first: experts (Nov. 12, 2003 / AFP)
Agreement would bring more poverty (Nov. 12, 2003 / Miami Herald) "... The FTAA would undermine democracy, take essential public services out of the hands of government and civil society and codify laws that allow corporate interests to supersede public interests. According to the World Bank, along with our experiences with NAFTA and unfettered privatization, the FTAA would send the people of this hemisphere down a road littered with economic, social and political decay...."
Brazil has beef with U.S. (Nov. 12, 2003 / AP)
From the Franklin River to the Chalillo Dam
Energy And Repressive Politics In Central America (Nov. 12, 2003 / Scoop) A look at how dam projects in Central America fit into the larger neoliberal design...
Canada still hoping to meet 2005 agreement on hemispheric free trade pact (Nov. 10, 2003 / AFP); Brazil-U.S. dispute could hijack FTAA ministerial meeting (Nov. 10, 2003 / CP) It is panning out just as predicted: Canada pretends to be 'neutral' mediator while effectively supporting U.S. position.
Ten years after NAFTA, both sides are still divided (Nov. 10, 2003 / Miami Herald); Pact brings varied luck (Nov. 10, 2003 / Miami Herald)
Farm laborers among trade protesters (Nov. 10, 2003 / Miami Herald)
Unions decry global pacts (Nov. 9, 2003 / Baltimore Sun)
FTAA: Brazil, whose clout pales against U.S. might, wants balance (Nov. 9, 2003 / South Florida Sun-Sentinel) A revealing look at Brazilian concerns about a possible FTAA pact.
Stage is set for a struggle over generics (Nov. 9, 2003 / Miami Herald) "One provision in the FTAA draft would allow allow a manufacturer, regardless of patent rights, to withhold its research data on a drug for at least five years.... 'Funny enough, the average person with HIV lives just five years,' the length of the proposed data delay, says Luis Villa, a physician in charge of the Doctors [Without Borders] program in Guatemala'... The International Intellectual Property Alliance, a coalition of six U.S. trade groups, is asking the FTAA for 'the highest levels of protection' to assure the safety of corporate investment...." IMPORTANT ARTICLE.
Ministers upbeat, but differences remain (Nov. 9, 2003 / Miami Herald) "...it was clear that Brazil was reluctant to negotiate some of the issues raised by Zoellick, including investment rules, access for service companies and intellectual property rights as long as Washington insisted that farm subsidies could be negotiated only in world trade talks."; No Progress in U.S., Brazil Trade Talks (Nov. 9, 2003 / AP) "...U.S. official refused to confirm that one idea being floated is that if countries seek to limit the areas covered by a free trade agreement, then they would not receive the full benefits of the pact...."
Stakes, obstacles significant at Miami hemispheric summit (Nov. 9, 2003 / Miami Herald) Overview article, largely pro-FTAA; Negotiations Cover Nine Issues (Nov. 9, 2003 / Miami Herald) Mini-primer on FTAA working groups; Free Trade Area Of Americas Still In Search Of Roadmap (Nov. 10, 2003 / DowJones)
Brazil calls on US to move forward "gradually" toward FTAA (Nov. 8, 2003 / AFP) "... [Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso] Amorim underlined the frankness of the conversation with Zoellick and warned him of the danger of demonizing the G-20 group of developing countries, created in Cancun in August, and led by Brazil, which seeks the complete elimination of agricultural subsidies among wealthy nations. Without the group, the less developed countries' positions would be too far apart...." ; Brazilian trade impasse gives way (Nov. 8, 2003 / Washington Times); U.S. speeds the pace of FTAA (Nov. 8, 2003 / UPI); Official: U.S. agricultural stance imperils FTAA (Nov. 6, 2003 / DowJones) "Talks this month to create a Pan-American free trade area will likely founder on the same issue of U.S. agricultural protectionism that scuttled September's World Trade Organization talks in Cancún, Brazil's agriculture minister said Wednesday...."
Free Trade Area of the Americas talks in Miami to offer civic forum (Nov. 7, 2003 / South Florida Sun-Sentinel) "...The AFL-CIO labor union federation said it found out about plans for the forum after it had started working on its own Americas labor sessions scheduled for the same time at the Gusman Center in Miami. 'We weren't part of the planning process until the process was already set,' said Thea Lee, an AFL-CIO trade specialist....Lee said the AFL-CIO has invited trade ministers or their deputies to meet labor leaders at their forum but has no word yet if they might attend...."
Trade zone talks to resume (Nov. 6, 2003 / Washington Times) "...A U.S.-Brazil meeting today and a so-called mini-ministerial among 16 countries tomorrow outside Washington precedes an important, hemispheric gathering in less than two weeks in Miami...."; U.S., Brazil Standoff Hampers Free Trade (Nov. 7, 2003 / AP)
Free Trade: Learning from Canada's Mistakes (Nov. 6, 2003 / IPS) "...The failure of Canadian negotiators to win an exemption from U.S. trade law for this country's manufactured goods and commodities in two trade deals continues to haunt leaders in Latin America, says Ken Traynor, a spokesperson for Common Frontiers, part of an alliance of unions and citizens' coalitions opposed to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).... The largely foreign-based auto manufacturers, for instance, have been shifting their investment and production from Canada to the southern United States and Mexico, where unions are weaker or non-existent and labor costs are lower. 'In 1999, we provided 16 per cent of all vehicles sold in North America; now we are down to 13 per cent and that will fall further,' said Jim Stanford, an economist with the Canadian Auto Workers...." The article also reports on some alternative explanations for those famous export-growth statistics which are cited ad nauseam by Corporate Pett & others at DFAIT. A MUST-READ ARTICLE
Houston has its hat in ring for trade plum (Nov. 6, 2003 / Houston Chronicle); More stateside rivals vie for secretariat (Nov. 7, 2003 / Miami Herald)
Prices stay steep as Brazil resists trade agreement (Nov. 5, 2003 / Miami Herald) Pro free-trade article focussing on consumer electronics prices in Brazil. Makes brief mention of the counterargument that "...the removal of tariffs on products such as television sets would lead to an invasion of cheaper imports and an end to a $5 billion electronics industry that now employs about 40,000 people and has links to as many as 160,000 jobs...."
U.S. links trade aid to support for its trade policies (Nov. 4, 2003 / Reuters) Says deputy U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier "... one should not be injecting huge amounts of money into environments where the policies are also not undergoing change, including trade liberalization policies," Allgeier also ruled out bilateral pacts with countries that have not backed Washington in FTAA and WTO negotiations, calling such support "indicators of readiness" for bilateral talks. He said one of the "principal factors" the United States will take into account before launching talks are whether a country has "shown a clear understanding and commitment to liberalize trade in other trade negotiating (forums), notably the WTO and the FTAA."
Sugar, citrus industries at odds with Bush over free trade (November 3, 2003 / Miami Herald); Florida citrus industry fears for survival (Nov. 2, 2003 / UPI); Florida's citrus tariffs on the table at Brazil trade talks (November 5, 2003 / Miami Herald) Interesting note: "...Florida growers also point out that the NAFTA free-trade agreement with Mexico and Canada in 1993 effectively allowed Mexican tomato farmers to wipe out their Florida counterparts - but did little to make fresh tomatoes or ketchup cheaper...."
FTAA crew headed to Bolivia (Nov. 3, 2003 / Atlanta Business Chronicle) 'Gateway to the Americas' director intends to "meet government leaders from Bolivia and other nations in an effort to brand Atlanta as the premier site for the FTAA headquarters...."
Vancouver Hunger Strike Against the FTAA
Robert Zoellick and "Wise Blood" (Nov. 3, 2003 / Scoop)
Take health off bargaining table (Nov. 3, 2003 / Toronto Star) "[Roy] Romanow has expressed grave concern about the impact of globalization on medicare.... Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew tabled Canada's offer for the FTAA in February. His 'draft text' left the health-care sector highly vulnerable to commercial pressures. The minister proposed that the hemispheric trade pact contain the same wording on health services as the 10-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Now, as then, Canada is asking to have "social services established or maintained for a public purpose," exempted from the terms of the agreement. Romanow warned in his report that this phrase is too vague, too weak and too limited in scope [see article for numerous concrete examples] .... Anti-free-trade activists ... think Ottawa is deliberately laying the groundwork to transform Canada's health-care sector into an engine of export growth. That would require a reciprocal opening of the Canadian market...." MUST-READ ARTICLE.
Union leaders protest summit (Nov. 1, 2003 / Miami Herald) "AFL-CIO South Florida President Fred Frost, leading a group of union workers Friday at Jackson Memorial Hospital, officially launched what is expected to be a series of massive protests against this month's trade summit in Miami. The union, which represents more than 100,000 people in South Florida, is part of a coalition of activists planning a march through downtown Miami on Nov. 20 -- the first day ministers from 34 countries will gather in Miami to discuss the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas. Police estimate 25,000 people will participate in the demonstration, with thousands more taking part in other protests during the week...."; Union workers rally against trade pact (Nov. 2, 2003 / Chicago Sun Times)
Société civile - Consultation et légitimité (1 nov., 2003 / Le Devoir)
Trade talks unfair, foes say (Nov. 1, 2003 / Miami Herald) "...According to Max Rameau, an anti-FTAA activist with the Miami Workers Center, only big-business groups will be given the opportunity to meet with the 34 trade ministers set to negotiate the trade agreement in Miami on Nov. 17-21...."
See also: PREVIOUS FTAA ARCHIVES
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