Interesting Article

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/815/1/

"In his opening address at the recent meeting, Bush quickly got down to his priorities: pushing free trade and pushing back against Hugo Chavez and the tide of left-leaning governments emerging down South. "I think our citizens will be pleased to know, for example, that we're working very hard to get trade agreements through our Congress, because the best way to help defeat poverty is to encourage commerce and trade." This is interesting given that, according to a 2007 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, only 28% of people in the U.S. think that trade has benefited their country. It’s hard to say whether Bush's claims about "free" trade will be greeted with more cynicism in the U.S. or in Latin America. ...

While Bush sought to assure the captains of finance and industry that the U.S. wouldn't lose Latin American capitalism to democracy and self-determination, many of his comments, along with those of Thomas Shannon and Condoleeza Rice, were thinly veiled threats to the Democrats: pass the Free Trade Agreements with Peru, Panama and Colombia or we're letting Hugo Chavez take over the continent. ...

At the Conference, however, Venezuela was the big red elephant in the room. The strange White House policy of not mentioning Hugo Chavez by name persisted throughout the conference. Regardless, Venezuela was the unnamed dark alternative to everything "great" Bush showcased. ...

Bush called on Congress to pass Free Trade Agreements with Peru, Panama and Colombia by the beginning of August. Despite buying off certain Congressional Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, Charles Rangel and Portland's very own Earl Blumenauer on some of these deals, it now seems increasingly less likely that any trade deals will pass in 2007."

By Dolfi on Jul 19, 2007, 01:14 in Politics & the war.

scotty says on Jul 19, 2007, 01:23:

Its about damn time! Us is always talking trade with the likes of China or some other far off country when right here on our own door steps are the excellent countires of Colombia, Peru and others that we barely acknowledge.
I would like to see the US doing a whole lot more trading with Colombia and other SA countries.

Get Rhythm, when you got the blues. Johnny Cash

miamimike says on Jul 19, 2007, 05:04:

Not to mention they are fair traders who float their currency as where the Chinese have a fixed frozen currency(more or less) hard to compete with partners like that. We should have been doing a lot more with our south american partners,,,Instaed, China has moved in and filled the void,,,Signing all kinds of new deals while we were asleep at the Wheel...

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? ... That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -- Feb. 28, 2008 --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.,

scotty says on Jul 19, 2007, 14:52:

yup thats about it, SA has been there all along and ready to trade with us and we are off running around indonisia or china or wherever.. i took the chinese to wake us up.

Get Rhythm, when you got the blues. Johnny Cash

Tinto (Moderator) says on Jul 19, 2007, 17:46:

MiamiMike - I'm not sure about China signing all kinds of deals with Latin American countries. Supply agreements are an entirely different animal than trade agreements. And all the "memorandums of understanding" you read about sometimes never move beyond the press release phase. An example: There has already been a backlash in Brazil about China's promises that weren't. Anyway, judging by foreign investment, I don't think Europe, Canada or the U.S. have taken their eye off of Latin America from a commercial standpoint. Not at all.

Re China's currency: I've said this before but that's a sovereign matter and people should stop complaining about it. The international community had the most amount of leverage on this issue when China wanted WTO membership but that train has left the station. I think the most effective leverage now is to cut off World Bank development project loans, most of which would probably be picked up by the private sector.