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FTAA


Canada can help counter Chavez’s mischief
As Prime Minister Stephen Harper departs upon his first official visit to Latin America this weekend, he will likely make a better impression than did Pierre Trudeau on his own visit to South America.
Price to pay for trade liberalization
The Bahamas stands to lose just under ten percent of tariff revenue as a result of the complete trade liberalization with the hemisphere and the United States, according to a report on Caribbean development in the 21st century compiled by the Caribbean Country Management Unit of the World Bank.
Cuba warns of FTAA mutations
The change in name of the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) into Free Trade Agreements (FTA) was rejected by Cuban economist, Osvaldo Martinez.
Cuba hosts anti-FTA meeting
The sixth Hemispheric Meeting to Fight Free Trade Agreements and for integration of the peoples began sessions at Havana Convention Center on Thursday.
FTAA unlikely to become reality soon, Mexico says
Mexican Economy Secretary Eduardo Sojo said the U.S.-led Free Trade Area of the Americas scheme is likely to remain stalled in the foreseeable future as negotiations between the United States and the leftist-dominated South America on the issue have been deadlocked for the past few years.
Rethinking FTAA
Trinidad and Tobago should rethink its position on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and instead examine Latin American proposals on the formation of a Latin American-Caribbean trade grouping. Government, it seems, continues to believe that we can still be selected as the headquarters of the FTAA.
US trade winds no longer prevail
Lately, the US government’s ability to use free trade agreements and trade preference bills as instruments of foreign and economic policy is dwindling.
Latin America, backyard no longer
As US President George W Bush is about to start his Latin American tour, he will find a region very different to what it was when he took over the White House.
Brazil likely to make bilateral agreements with the US rather than working with the FTAA
The Brazilian Foreign Relations Minister, Celso Amorin, argued that Mercosur would prefer to negotiate bilaterally with the US than to try to save the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas.
Mercosur official says "FTAA is dead"
A top Argentine trade official was quoted in Bs. Aires Tuesday as saying the Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA, a hemispheric commerce initiative pushed by the Bush administration, "is dead."
US trade sanctions seek to pressure Latin America
The US government’s announcement that it will review the possibility of limiting, suspending, or withdrawing trade preferences under the General System of Preferences (GSP) to three Latin American countries—Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela—is political pressure to make these nations participate in the model of regional integration proposed by the United States.
Frente Amplio rejects FTA with US
The Political Board of Uruguay’s Frente Amplio on Tuesday ratified its rejection of the US-sponsored Free Trade Agreements within the framework of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
Defining the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas - ALBA
Much has been written and theorized about the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) since President Chavez first proposed the idea at Isla Margarita at the III Summit of the Heads of State and the Government of the Association of Caribbean States in December, 2001.
ALBA: The call for an "Amphictyonic Congress" of the age
Latin America is living in times of hope and changes where the longings of Simon Bolivar’s plans for integration have a new validity; but there are also dangers posed by those who are committed to the traditional subordination and ties to Washington.
Bilderbergers slither away
Sources say Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s challenge to the Free Trade Area of the Americas was on the top of the agenda of the Bilderberg Group meeting in Canada last week.
Macho men and state capitalism - is another world possible?
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is widely seen to be at the center of Latin America’s transformation by building a regional trade bloc through the creation of ALBA and Venezuela’s membership in Mercosur to oppose US dominance and its constant push for free trade agreements with Latin American governments. However, the true democratic debate has been silenced in this simplified two-sided fight between the projects of macho men.
Bolivia moves to support Latin American integration
The Bolivian representative to an anti-“free trade” conference underway in Havana, proposed a “People’s Trade Agreement” - a joint initiative between the government and social movements in that South American country.
Free trade between US and neighbors is alive and well
Critics of a free trade agreement in the Americas point to what they perceive are missed deadlines and lost opportunities as proof that a hemisphere-wide pact is dead and gone.
Venezuela’s Chavez lashes out at free trade pacts while agreeing to El Salvador fuel sales
Chavez argues that US-proposed free-trade pacts would help big US companies at the expense of Latin America’s poor.
Free-trade agenda has new momentum
Surprise! Last week’s completion of U.S. free trade talks with Colombia - and the likely signing of similar deals with Ecuador and Panama in coming weeks - may mean that U.S. plans to create a hemisphere-wide free-trade area may not be dead after all.