Commentary

Can the FTAA Survive its Internal Contradictions?

Trade ministers from the countries of the hemisphere, excluding Cuba, met in Quito, Ecuador on October 31 and November 1 to continue the negotiations for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The trade ministers were met by tens of thousands of demonstrators, who sent representatives in to the negotiations to speak about serious concerns of the indigenous peoples, workers, women, youth and students. Popular opposition to the FTAA has continued to grow throughout the Americas. This is no small surprise, given that the promises about liberalized trade as a panacea to cure all economic and social ills have proved particularly empty.

Popular opposition to the Free Trade Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement was not enough to derail those agreements, as the American and Canadian governments and the economic interests they represent were determined to push them through no matter what. However, it is becoming apparent that the FTAA will not be guaranteed the same smooth passage.

At the Summit of the Americas held in Quebec City in April 2001, a deadline of January 2005 was set for negotiating an agreement and a deadline of December 2005 for its implementation, with the most ardent support for the deadline coming from U.S. President Bush.

Even at the Quebec City summit contradictions between the 34 countries negotiating had emerged, with Venezuela, Brazil and representatives of the Caribbean nations expressing concerns about different aspects of both the process and the agreement. Venezuela also refused to accept the 2005 deadline, despite various forms of intimidation.

At the end of the Quito meeting, the trade ministers produced a communiqué which waxed eloquent about the benefits of the agreement for all the peoples of the region. Significant progress, they claimed, had been made in addressing outstanding issues of concern, and progress towards the 2005 deadline was proceeding on schedule. However, Venezuela once again refused to accept the deadline. And according to unnamed sources quoted in the Latin American press, the Americans were strongly criticized for several recent protectionist measures, including banning Mexican tomatoes and imposing hefty duties on everything from Canadian softwood lumber to bananas from the Caribbean.

In 2003 when the next round of formal negotiations are held in Miami, the newly elected leftist government of Brazil, headed by Workers' Party leader "Lula" da Silva, will have assumed power. Even Brazil's right-wing Cardoso government had expressed serious reservations about the FTAA, and Lula's government has the ability to scuttle the deal or at least drastically reshape it. Scuttling the deal, or even reworking it extensively, would be seen as a massive blow to the American and Canadian governments, both of whom have been ardent champions of the FTAA. It would also signify a much-needed victory for the peoples of the Americas.