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In depth I  FTAA: a new colonialism? ALBA, Venezuela's answer to "free trade": the Bolivarian alternative for the Americas Source: Focus on the Global South This report provides a detailed account, and a critical assessment, of the ALBA project to date. October 2006 (pdf version).[see more]         Correct  ADD YOUR COMMENT >> The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process was formally launched at the first Summit of the Americas, in Miami, in December 1994. At the beginning of that year the North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, Mexico and the United States came into force. The FTAA will mean an expansion of this agreement to include the rest of the continent, except Cuba. The FTAA talks have been organized in nine permanent, theme-based Negotiating Groups: Agriculture; Government Procurement; Investment; Market Access; Subsidies; Services; Intellectual Property Rights; Competition Policy; and Dispute Settlement. An official delegate from each country participates in each Negotiating Group, but the US government clearly dominates the proceedings. The anti-FTAA movement holds that it is not simply a trade agreement, as it is being presented officially, but a plan designed by US business and government sectors to broaden and strengthen their control over the peoples and countries in the hemisphere. If this Agreement enters into force, the sovereignty of the countries and peoples will be seriously compromised, and it will have a negative impact not only on economies and trade, but also on working conditions, social and cultural development, and the environment. It is no exaggeration, they claim, to describe the FTAA as an expression of neocolonialism. Meanwhile, the countries of the Americas continue negotiating the agreement, with different positions and more than a few confrontations. The Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), and in particular Brazil, is demanding that FTAA negotiations contemplate the asymmetries that exist among the countries involved and that consequently mutual concessions be made. In this sense, if the countries of the South are willing to open up certain sectors, such as government procurement, the United States and Canada must act accordingly with agricultural protectionism. Several Southern Cone countries, like Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, are major exporters of agricultural products and have enormous difficulties exporting both to the United States and to other markets, due to dumping practices and the domestic aid that Washington pours primarily into agro-industries. The United States, in the meantime, moves gradually forward through bilateral or regional free trade agreements. Already, it has signed agreements with some countries, like Mexico and Chile, and is speeding up negotiations for the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and the Andean countries (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia). In this way, a number of parallel treaties are being established, which are identical in format and characteristics as an FTAA that serves the interests of Washington. If things continue along this line, we will end up with a network of free trade agreements covering all of Central America and several Andean countries, and excluding, for the time being, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. According to the Uruguayan analyst Eduardo Gudynas, "this, in practice, is tantamount to an FTAA that leaves out the most important trade competitors and limits Brazil’s options as a regional leader. It is also a strategy that will leave Latin America divided for many years to come, thus curtailing its capacity to coordinate production and economic policies." The coming into force of the FTAA was scheduled for 1 January 2005. But since the standstill in the negotiations –basically because of disagreements between US and Brazil on how to structure the agreement- that date has not been reached. Versión en español print    send   correct  ADD YOUR COMMENT >>  Official information  Negotiations  Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)  What's behind the FTAA?  Impacts of the FTAA  Civil society  Civil society statements  Alternatives  Information resources   News Up-to-date current affairs information. Fri Jan 24 2003 Lessons from NAFTA: resisting economic integration Fuente: Choike In-depth reports Detailed reports on key issues GATS - trade in services A 'development-friendly' agreement, but not necessarily for the poorest countries. World Social Forum (WSF) 2005 It took place once again in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from January 26 to 31, 2005. Free Trade Agreements - FTAs Through different trade related mechanisms privatization and deregulation processes are being imposed. Education on the market The pros and cons of the slow but relentless process of integration of education into the market. Health and health services, goods for sale Is privatization the answer to health care problems that affect the poor? World Trade Organization - WTO Trade at the service of people, or people subjected to trade? The WTO makes the difference. Patents and medicines What about equal opportunities for developed and developing countries to obtain medicines their populations need?      Official information Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) This site contains documents from the process initiated in the 1994 Summit of the Americas to integrate the economies of the Western Hemisphere into a single free trade arrangement. FTAA Ministerial meetings Source: FTAA Official declarations from the FTAA Ministerial meetings. Foreign Trade Information System (SICE) An overview through the FTAA process since 1994 until today, with related links and documents. SICE (short from its Spanish acronym -- Sistema de Información al Comercio Exterior) is the information technology arm of the Trade Unit of the Organization of American States (OAS).    Negotiations FTAA Ministerial - Miami 2003 Source: Choike On 20 and 21 November 2003, trade ministers from 34 countries met in Miami to negotiate the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). This special report includes key information resources, mostly from the civil society mobilizing in Miami as well as alternative press coverage. Year in review, and a prospective look at 2004 Source: Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery In recent months the Western Hemisphere free-trade pact – the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) - has met with impasse, which subsequently prompted a technical and political review of the process. In this regard, the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) examines the past year and the year ahead, with a view to bringing into focus key developments and issues. January 2004. MERCOSUR and the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas Source: Red Mercosur From February 2002 until June 2003, a group of researchers at the MERCOSUR Economic Research Network (Red-Mecosur) worked together to analyze the most sensitive aspects of the negotiations on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), seen from the perspective of the South. The general objective of this project was to contribute to an evaluation of the economic impact on the MERCOSUR countries of the possible creation of the FTAA. The final version of the project is presented in this book. 2003. Civil society prepares for the IV Summit of the Americas Source: Choike On November 4th and 5th, 2005 in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina, the Organization of American States (OAS) will hold the IV Summit of the Americas, where 34 heads of state from all over the continent will meet - with Cuba expressly excluded. This year, governments aim to give "job opportunities" a central place on the hemispheric agenda but most Latin-American social movements fear the real goal is to push forward the process of trade liberalisation and the implementation of the FTAA. August 2005.    Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) The processes of privatization, globalization and deregulation of the economy have prevailed within the last decade and a half through different mechanisms, among which the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been the most important. As of 1995, the United States considered that negotiations in the WTO were not always conducted with the celerity desired and thereby negotiations aimed at the creation of regional free trade areas were sponsored. The first negotiations that managed to be kicked off, during that same year, were those for the creation of the FTAA, or Free Trade Area of the Americas. However, in view of the stagnation in negotiations, which should come to an end before 1 January, 2005, the United States accelerated the signing of bilateral free trade agreements with several countries of the continent as well as with countries from other regions of the world. Regional and bilateral agreements and a TRIPS-plus world: the FTAA Source: Quaker United Nations Office David Vivas-Eugui This paper provides an overview, based on IPRs negotiations in the Americas, of some of the implications of regional and bilateral TRIPS-plus agreements for the current minimum standards under TRIPS (pdf version). The Mexican farmers' movement: exposing the myths of free trade Source: Third World Network Features Laura Carlsen Buffeted by unfair competition from giant US agri-corporations, Mexico's long-suffering farmers are agitating against the trade model that has brought nothing but immiseration upon them. In its place, they are calling for a rural-development pact to be forged that would secure their livelihoods as well as the nation's sustainable development. bilaterals.org bilaterals.org is a collective effort to share information and stimulate cooperation against bilateral trade and investment agreements that are opening countries to the deepest forms of penetration by transnational corporations.    What's behind the FTAA? Divide and conquer Source: Public Services International Scott Sinclair and Ken Traynor Under the terms of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) treaty and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) now being negotiated, governments will no longer be able to oblige foreign investors to purchase locally, transfer technology, take local partners or train local workers. Citing this and other treaty provisions, “Divide and Conquer,” a new study prepared by Scott Sinclair and Ken Traynor for PSI, shows that the pending treaties dramatically reduce the sovereignty of governments and their ability to regulate in the public interest. January 2005 (pdf version).    Impacts of the FTAA According to social organizations and different analysts of trade and integration policies included in an agreement such as the FTAA, the latter would certainly have many negative impacts on the countries of the continent. Ranging from issues such as human rights – being among them the right to health, food and work – until the exploitation of natural resources and the environment, any analysis of the impacts of the FTAA represents a sum of negative impacts that calls for a reflection. The FTAA, access to HIV/AIDS treatment, and human rights Source: Human Rights Watch The FTAA’s “TRIPS-plus” provisions pose a significant danger to developing countries facing public health emergencies such as human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). October 2002. The Free Trade Area of the Americas and the threat to water Source: International Forum on Globalization Early on, citizens demanded that working groups on democratic governance, labor and human rights, consumer safety and the environment be included in the FTAA negotiations. Trading away our environment: market "liberalization" without responsibility Source: Friends of the Earth The vast FTAA project of liberalization will affect almost every sector of the economy and will have significant environmental and social impacts. Integration of the Americas: welfare effects and options for the MERCOSUR Source: Red MERCOSUR Silvia Laens and María Inés Terra In South America, the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR) is involved in trade negotiations for the creation of the FTAA. This paper examines how this will affect the countries comprising the MERCOSUR (pdf version). FTAA: Latin America deserves better Source: Common Dreams Mary Robinson What would the consequences be if the FTAA were adopted in its current form? First, governments would lose the right to discriminate in favor of small-scale domestic industries, to require the transfer of skills and technology, and to restrict profit repatriation. If the recent history of Latin America teaches anything, it is that unregulated open markets, rapid import liberalization and the absence of essential government regulation and public services is bad for growth, bad for stability, and disastrous for poverty reduction. November 2003.    Civil society Hemispheric Campaign against the FTAA The campaign was formally launched on 4 February 2002 at the World Social Forum in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, with a march in which around fifty thousand people participated. Site also available in French, Portuguese, and Spanish. Understanding the FTAA: a guide for activists Source: Action for Community and Ecology in the Regions of Central America - ACERCA The architects of the global economy have a new plan to extend corporate rule. Are you ready to stop them? Hemispheric Social Alliance - Alianza Social Continental Hemispheric Social Alliance is a forum of organizations and social movements of the Americas, created to exchange information, define strategies and promote joint actions, aiming at the search for an alternative and democratic model of development which benefits the people. Global Exchange In-depth report on the FTAA containing background, updates, and information for activists. US. Women's Edge Coalition Its mission is to advocate international economic policies and human rights that support women worldwide in ending poverty in their lives, communities and nations. US.    Civil society statements Declaration of the Second People's Summit of the Americas Source: Hemispheric Social Alliance We, the delegates of the Second People's Summit of the Americas, declare our opposition to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) project concocted secretly by the 34 Heads of State and government hand in hand with the American Business Forum. Québec, April 19, 2001. Challenges for hemispheric emancipation Source: ALAI Jubilee South/Americas declaration on debt, the FTAA, and militarization challenges for hemispheric emancipation. Quito, May 25, 2002. The FTAA and a crisis of destiny Source: ALAI Ricardo Gebrim In practice, the FTAA will make it possible to totally de-regulate all of the Latin American economies and consequently dissolve their role as sovereign states. Ricardo Gebrim is a member of Brazil's National Co-ordination for the Referendum Movement.    Alternatives Many alternatives to the initiative of trade liberalization under the US-sponsored FTAA have arose from civil society and other areas. The most recent one is the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA, in Spanish), which is shown as the antithesis of the FTAA. Although this proposal was originally put forward by the Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in 2001, in the Venezuelan Margarita Island, at a meeting of the Association of Caribbean States, it took four years to make its official launching, which was postponed among other factors by Venezuela’s internal political crisis. This new project aims at recovering the origins of the Latin American integration under the inspiration of national hero, Simón Bolívar. Alternatives for the Americas: Building a people's hemispheric agreement This document reflects an ongoing, collaborative process to establish concrete and viable alternatives, based on the interests of the peoples of our hemisphere, to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). It is the second draft of a document initially prepared for the April 1998 Peoples' Summit of the Americas-a historic gathering of activists determined to change the prevailing approach to trade and investment policy in the Western Hemisphere. ALBA, Venezuela's answer to "free trade": the Bolivarian alternative for the Americas Source: Focus on the Global South David Har ris and Diego Azzi This paper published by Focus on the Global South analyzes the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) as a substitute to the neoliberal US-supported Free Trade Agreement of the Americas and other Latin American integration efforts such as Mercosur. The ALBA initiative – organized by Presidents Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Evo Morales of Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia respectively – aims to promote regional integration through “social welfare and equity” rather than trade liberalization. The authors conclude that the widespread support ALBA receives in the region demonstrates that the majority of Latin Americans no longer have faith in the neoliberal model that has left so many mired in poverty. October 2006 (pdf version).    Information resources Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery An introduction to the FTAA process.

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