Thread: Jobs Dominate Talk at Americas Summit

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Jobs Dominate Talk at Americas Summit
11.02.2005, 04:41 PM

Leaders from 32 American nations and thousands of protesters are demanding the same thing as they converge on this seaside resort: jobs and better wages. But they disagree on how to accomplish that goal, with President Bush expected to push free trade and demonstrators angrily opposed.

Few believe the two-day summit that begins Friday will solve chronic unemployment and poverty, and even those with jobs in the Atlantic resort of Mar del Plata, where the summit is being held, question whether Bush and Latin American leaders will end up crafting deals that help the poor.

"I don't know what free trade agreements can do for us, and I don't even know what these presidents are going to talk about," said 66-year-old fisherman Dante Vitelo, hauling nets brimming with sardines to shore from the south Atlantic.

The fourth Summit of the Americas to be held since 1994 will focus on poverty reduction and economic development and Bush plans to announce several job creation programs.

"We have a great opportunity to deal with job creation or poverty by putting a system in place that encourages economic growth and entrepreneurship," Bush told Spanish language reporters Tuesday in Washington.

But an ideological battle loomed between Bush and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro and outspoken critic of what he calls an "imperialist" U.S. government.

Chavez, a leftist whose government has used the country's vast oil wealth to fund social programs for the poor, said Venezuela would object to any attempt by the U.S. to revive talks on a proposed hemisphere-wide free trade zone, the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

"They are trying to include an article (in a summit declaration) to revive the FTAA. They aren't going to revive it even if they produce a 100,000-page document," Chavez told the Caracas-based TV channel Telesur in an interview Tuesday.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez told business leaders Wednesday in Argentina that free trade is the best way to create wealth and improve living standards for tens of millions of Latin Americans living in misery.

He cited the example of the North American Free Trade agreement between Canada, Mexico and the United States - saying the three nations have had cumulative economic growth of 40 percent since NAFTA was put in place in 1994.

"Without the free-trade agreement, these results would not have been possible," Gutierrez said.

But other countries do not want this weekend's summit to be about the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

The effort to create a hemisphere-wide free trade zone has made halting progress for years, with the United States and some Latin American countries far apart on a number of issues - including U.S. protections for American farmers.

Negotiators missed an original January deadline for wrapping up the talks even under a scaled-down two-tier approach that has been dubbed "FTAA lite" by critics.

Argentine negotiator Victor Hugo Varsky said negotiators were "advancing very slowly" as they decide what level of importance the issue should have in the summit's final declaration.

"Some countries don't want any mention," he said. "Others want to progress toward a trade accord."

Washington is not alone in support of talks on a hemisphere-wide free trade zone. Mexican President Vicente Fox wants the summit to nail down a date for the relaunching of negotiations on the issue, Mexican official Yanerit Morgan Sotomayor said in Mexico City.

All 34 nations except for Panama and Honduras were to be represented by heads of state at the summit.

Other differences over the summit's declaration have also emerged. Venezuela wants the declaration to state that 37 million people lived in poverty in the United States - a clause the U.S. doesn't support.

Leftist activists have gotten their message out early by staging a so-called "People's Summit" and vowing to stage a large-scale march Friday to reject free market programs.

They point to Argentina's December 2001 financial meltdown as a case. Once the darling of Wall Street, Argentina plunged into street riots, a searing devaluation and a gargantuan debt default as government spending and more than $100 billion in international borrowing sank South America's second-largest economy.

Despite a rebound, Argentina's jobless rate remains in double digits and 40 percent of its 36 million people live in poverty.

Still, Latin American economies show signs of improving.

Economic growth boosted wages and drove down regional urban unemployment to 9.6 percent, or 18.3 million people, according to a study last month by the United Nations' International Labor Organization.

Teacher Noemi Isley, 53, can't make ends meet on her monthly wage of $330. She plans to participate in a massive march Friday. "As a divorced mother with three grown children, I live alone and I never know how I am going to make it to the end of the month," she said.

http://www.kfmb.com/stories/story.27622.html

Bush to Confront New Troubles Abroad

Last Updated:
11-02-05 at 2:51PM

Bedeviled by problems at home, President Bush is confronting a new slate of troubles abroad this week on his first trip to Argentina, Brazil and Panama.

He hasn't been able to achieve a Western Hemisphere trade agreement, thousands of anti-American demonstrators are planning street protests and leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is waiting to take him on.

The president leaves Thursday for the Summit of the Americas, where representatives of 34 nations are gathering in the seaside resort of Mar del Plata, Argentina. Chavez has indicated he plans to lead a "final burial" of Bush's plan for a giant free trade area that would include all countries in the Western Hemisphere except Cuba.

Bush acknowledged this week that the Free Trade Area of the Americas, once one of his highest trade priorities, is at an impasse, with the U.S. facing numerous disagreements with South American countries. "The FTAA has stalled, I agree," Bush, throwing both arms in the air, said in response to a question in an interview with Latin American reporters Tuesday.

But Bush said he is still committed to free trade as a way to lift people out of poverty. "Grants and loans pale in comparison to the amount of good that can be done as commerce develops at all levels of government, at all levels of society, as a result of trade," Bush said.

While Bush appeared resigned to the obstacles stopping the FTAA, he said he is shifting his focus to world trade talks. Those negotiations also are being held up by thorny farm trade policies, which Bush acknowledged is a very difficult issue. He said resolving those disagreements would be a major focus of his private meetings with the leaders of Argentina, Panama and particularly Brazil.

Bush's trip follows what has been one of the worst week's of his presidency. One of his top advisers was indicted, he had to replace his widely criticized Supreme Court nominee, and U.S. military deaths in Iraq passed the 2,000 mark.

The president's image doesn't improve as he travels south. Opinions of the United States have fallen in recent years in Latin America, partially due to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

"I understand not everybody agrees with the decisions I've made, but that's not unique to Central or South America," Bush said. "Truth of the matter is, there's people who disagree with the decisions I've made all over the world. And I understand that. But that's what happens when you make decisions."

Chavez is trying to use his disagreements with Bush to boost his profile internationally. The constant critic of the "imperialist" U.S. government that he claims is plotting to kill him or overthrow his government has praised plans for massive anti-Bush protests that organizers hope will draw 50,000 to the streets outside the summit.

Chavez said the street marches will mark the demise of the Free Trade Area of the Americas. "I'm sure it will be a historic event because it's the final burial of the FTAA," Chavez told the Venezuelan TV channel Telesur in an interview late Tuesday.

Chavez said the United States is trying to include an article in a summit declaration to revive the FTAA. He said some other South American countries wanted to recognize the FTAA effort for diplomatic reasons, but he would object if they do.

Chavez and his close ally, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, contend Bush's proposal would help large U.S. companies at the expense of Latin American workers. They have instead proposed a trade pact based on socialist ideals.

"The left is back, and it's the only path we have to get out of the spot to which the right has sunken us," Chavez said. "Socialism builds and capitalism destroys."

Despite tense relations with Chavez, Bush did not reject Venezuela's recent move to build a nuclear reactor for peaceful energy uses. Bush said international oversight of any nuclear development is important, and he noted that Venezuela already is an energy rich nation as one of the world's top oil producers.

"I guess if I were a taxpayer in Venezuela, I would wonder about the energy supply that Venezuela has," Bush said. "But maybe it makes sense. I haven't really studied the proposal."

National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley noted Wednesday that although Chavez has raised his nuclear interests with many different countries, "so far he hasn't done very well in terms of getting any takers."

"I think that's because people recognize that it would be problematic for Chavez to be in the nuclear business, if you will," Hadley said. But, he added later, "The thing I want to say is this trip, this summit, is not about Hugo Chavez."

Total Job disapproval by Americans......no problem---the Cheney-Bush-CFR administration merrily keep on ticking........

As a handful of Senators assist in damaging the United States and hurting Americans--jobs,illegal immigration/Border......

What's Chavez griping about (is it fake opposition??) ---Bush isn't promoting capitalism--- he's right there promoting socialism/communism-----"free trade" for ALL.....