If anyone watched Lou Dobbs tonight, you would have heard that the countries that signed CAFTA are now balking about implementing it, because they have finally read it. Oh Lordy Lordy, please let it be so.


Will the US ferment warfare to push Free Trade in Central and South America?

George Bush left Mar del Plata empty handed. He should have stayed home. The visit badly damaged his reputation. It showed the deep-seated animosity latent in Latin America toward the Bush administration, but they do not harbor any negative feelings toward the American people. The bottom line is the neocons have brought little new to the table to re-ignite talks. The sticking points are US farm subsidies and the fear these smaller economies would be overwhelmed. Almost all countries said they’d renew talks, which means little.

The pact that Bush has maintained would help reduce poverty and boost economic growth has drawn vehement opposition from some leaders who say it would exacerbate large economic disparities across the region. Five countries refused to take part in the negotiations, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Paraguay and Uruguay, which rendered the FTAA negotiations worthless. The game isn’t over, but Latin America won this round. What they won was time. Most nations don’t have the oil revenues that Venezuela has so they cannot be as strident and hesitate to alienate anyone much less the US. All of Latin America has voted populist or socialist because the US has forced them to do so. Brazil wants a much better deal. Chile just wants to get along – they could go either way. That could change for the worse in the near future, as Lula is unelectable in Brazil due to recent scandals. We don’t believe Argentina, Venezuela and Uruguay, under their present leadership, will ever join FTAA. Even the elitist Zogby Poll has 80% of Latin America anti Bush and in Argentina and Brazil it is over 90%. The latest US moves militarily in Colombia and Paraguay have South Americans very upset. The US is putting military troops all over South America certainly in anticipation of starting real trouble as they have elsewhere. This situation is grave because they don’t have enough troops for Iraq. The South American distribution of US troops and mercenaries have to be very important to the neocons to spare the personnel. We believe they are going to ferment warfare if they cannot get FTAA by diplomatic means. That means the South American countries should be training and expanding their militaries and arming themselves to the teeth.

South and Central America and Mexico do not want to lose their sovereignty, especially in the Andean region. They are very receptive to Hugo Chavez’s call for financial independence from US and international elitist corporate interests. These people have been exploited for over 500 years and that is about to end. In Bolivia, Evo Morales is as outspoken as Hugo Chavez is, and he joined Chavez at Friday’s stadium rally to protest Bush and FTAA. He said he wants to nationalize oil and natural gas and that is fine as long as its owners are compensated. As you know this happened in Mexico year’s ago. Chile is playing both sides and it will cost them in the end.

With NAFTA both Mexico and Canada have found it’s not a two-way street. It is the rules according to the Bush neocons. Internationalist, transnational corporations, many of which in tandem with other integrated monopolistic enterprises, dictate prices for goods, want to dictate prices for natural resources and want everyone to work for slaves’ wages as they become richer and more powerful and we become poorer. This administration wouldn’t know a level playing field from a turnip patch. The corporations like it the way it is, as do the rich of other countries. It is not only Americans who are losers, but also citizens of all countries. The field of course from a nationalist’s point of view cannot be really level. If it was the US would collapse and that is where it is headed. If we thought for a minute free trade would help everyone, we’d be for it. The US is too highly leveraged and the only way America can now protect itself is via protective tariffs. If it is not done the economy will collapse and that is not in anyone’s best interest.

As Mexicans well know, NAFTA has been a bust. If it had been successful over the last 11 years 10 million would not have had to become illegal aliens. Who wants FTAA after seeing how Mexico got shafted? Only the international conglomerates and the wealthy made out. Maqueladoras may provide employment, but we class them as slave labor camps, just cheap exploitative labor. Latin nations who join CAFTA and FTAA will all end up like Mexico. Part of the problem is that the media won’t report the truth, so Americans do not know what Mexico and our Latin neighbors and friends already know. The failure to foist FTAA at the Summit of the Americas and the demonstrations were a glorious reflection of free people who refuse to be bamboozled by elitists.

Fortunately, as long as George Bush and the neocons run America in an arrogant, belligerent and bellicose manner, the polite, conservative family oriented Latin Americans will never sign FTAA. Bush is the focus of their anger and this is justified, but don’t take your eye off the ball. He is just one emissary of a conspiracy for world government. Latin America should look ahead to when the neocons are gone in 39 months and get ready for a continuing battle for sovereignty. There will be another illuminist behind him that won’t be easy to hate. The problem is free trade and globalization, which is in the neocons best interest. George Bush has made it easy to reject FTAA. It is not easy to find an administration that allies with dictatorships, oligarchies, who tortures innocent people, uses secret assassinations sometimes of duly elected world leaders, allows kidnapping anywhere in the world and indefinite detention and meddles in wars and sanctions worldwide. He is reviled and scorned all over the world, but again focuses on the mission, which is an end to free trade, globalization and one-world government.

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