 |
|
|
 News from Around the Americas | November 2005 
Bush Departs Americas Summit Before Conclusion of Negotiations on Trade Deal
 Associated Press
| | Demonstrators hold an Argentine flag with a "Stop Bush" sign painted on it, during the "People's Summit" march towards Mar del Plata stadium for a massive rally against the IV Summit of the Americas held in the city 04 November, 2005. During the rally, activists will stress their opposition to the Free Trade Agreement (ALCA, in spanish) and the visit of US President George W. Bush. (AFP Photo) |
Mar Del Plata, Argentina - President Bush's hopes of keeping alive his proposal for a Western Hemisphere free-trade zone were in doubt on Saturday, but he left a summit of Americas leaders before negotiations were done.
Bush once envisioned a free-trade zone stretching from Alaska to Argentina. But after years of negotiations, five key countries - Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay - are still opposed.
On the final day of the Summit of the Americas, the leaders of 34 nations engaged in last-minute haggling on a deal calling for negotiations sometimes next year to create the new trade bloc, according to a top negotiator. The United States, Mexico and 27 other nations prefer an April deadline to restart high-level talks, said the negotiator, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the final document had not yet been finalized.
Negotiations that were supposed to end at lunch dragged on until late afternoon, forcing summit organizers to postpone by hours a closing ceremony and a press conference to release the declaration.
But Bush departed on schedule, even though he has no events upon his arrival later Saturday in Brazil. He was holding talks there Sunday with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The president and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made their case to the leaders before departing. Thomas Shannon, the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs was left behind to represent the United States in the ongoing talks, said a senior U.S. administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Brazil is unwilling to set a firm date to restart high-level negotiations. Brazil is the largest country in Latin America and was the United States' co-chair in the trade agreement negotiations that were supposed to end in a final agreement Jan. 31.
Instead, those talks have stalled. Brazil wants the United States to reduce farm subsidies that it said would crowd out Brazilian products. The United States wants Brazil to do more to crack down on widespread pirating of U.S. movies and music.
Outside the meeting site Friday, more than 1,000 demonstrators opposing Bush and the trade deal clashed with police, shattered storefronts and set businesses ablaze. Protesters shouted "Get out Bush!" and "Fascist Bush! You are the terrorist!" By contrast, this seaside resort town hosting the meetings was calm on Saturday.
The United States has said it is ready to make steep cuts to farm tariffs as Brazil has demanded, provided European countries follow suit so that the U.S. is not at a disadvantage in trans-Atlantic trade.
So far, the European Union has not agreed to cuts that are as low as the United States has proposed.
U.S. officials have said they hope that once they resolve issues with the European Union, holdouts from the Western Hemisphere trade negotiations will come back to the table.
"The degree to which there is division in the Americas, the degree to which there are people who want to opt out of that common consensus, it lessens the chances of successfully achieving the kind of agenda that we have identified," said Thomas Shannon, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.
Bush has said the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA, would generate wealth, create jobs and help lift tens of millions of Latin Americans out of poverty.
Bush did not mention the pact on the summit's opening day Friday, leaving the heavy lifting on negotiations to Mexican President Vicente Fox. He did not speak at all publicly on Saturday.
"Anyone who blocks an accord like this is certainly looking out for their own interests and not the interests of others," Fox said. "This majority of countries are advancing toward a good, just and beneficial FTAA."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been the most vocal critic of the trade pact and boldly declared that he will see that it's killed. "Here, in Mar del Plata, FTAA will be buried!" Chavez told more than 10,000 protesters gathered just before the summit.
But analysts said the four other countries that are out for now - all members of their own trade bloc known as Mercosur - would probably end up joining any Americas pact later.
"Over time, there would be pressure for the Mercosur countries to join," said Michael Shifter, a Latin America expert at the Inter-American Dialogue research group in Washington. "And the U.S. and other participating governments would extend an open invitation." |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us