Thread: Pact should be spark for FTAA

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Pact should be spark for FTAA

By Jorge L. Arrizurieta
Posted August 15 2005


When Congress ratified DR-CAFTA and President Bush signed the bill into law, the implications went well beyond approving the details of just another trade agreement. The United States of America sent a clear message that the free trade movement, in the hemisphere and throughout the world, is alive and well.

DR-CAFTA's passage will now create tremendous momentum for a new wave of key trade agreements involving the United States and our southern neighbors, particularly reigniting talks toward the conclusion of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which began in Miami a decade ago.

If DR-CAFTA had failed to pass, any momentum for the FTAA would have died with it; and Miami's vibrant campaign to house the FTAA's headquarters, known as the Permanent Secretariat, would have abruptly ended.

In the end, though, the majority of Florida's congressional representatives understood the long-term economic benefits of free trade in the hemisphere; 70 percent of the Florida delegation supported the bill. Florida's two U.S. senators are to be commended for their leadership and their vote to ensure passage, providing strong bipartisan support.



Now, negotiators can return to the bargaining table in good faith to resume the FTAA process and work toward creation of the world's most formidable trading partnership, involving 34 democracies with 800 million consumers and a combined gross domestic product of $14 trillion.

The FTAA's collective economic benefit would place the hemisphere in a position to rival any multination economic partnership in the world, including the European Union, and stabilize the region politically and economically.

As the tide of prosperity rises in the hemisphere, the benefits to Florida of the larger free trade bloc would be tremendous. Already, the state handles almost half the trade in goods between the U.S. and DR-CAFTA nations, and is the No. 1 exporter to the DR-CAFTA region.

Florida is the No. 1 trading partner of all nations in the Western Hemisphere, with the exception of Mexico. Businesses in the state contribute more than 40 percent of the United States' exports to the region. The state's airports and seaports handle 55 percent of trade between the U.S. and Central America and 45 percent of U.S.-Caribbean trade.

With the FTAA, economist Dr. J. Antonio Villamil and Enterprise Florida, the state's economic development partnership, have estimated the agreement would mean nearly 90,000 new jobs and a $3.2 billion annual payroll increase for Florida businesses.

Florida's gross state product annually would grow by $13.5 billion and state and local governments would see an annual increase in fiscal revenues, totaling $157 million.

Miami is the leading U.S. contender for the FTAA Permanent Secretariat. Most of the DR-CAFTA nations, along with Uruguay, have publicly endorsed Miami as their choice for the FTAA secretariat.



Beyond the FTAA, other key developments for free trade in the hemisphere should not be overlooked. For instance, the U.S. is working diligently on separate bilateral agreements with Panama and a regional agreement with the Andean nations. Negotiators for the U.S. and the three Andean countries of Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, and a Bolivian participating as an observer, wrapped up five days of talks in Miami on July 22 and declared that the meeting was their most successful.

Another sign that tremendous economic opportunities in Latin America are about to be awakened occurred with the recent election of Luis Alberto Moreno, Colombia's ambassador to the United States, as president of the Inter-American Development Bank, which has provided more than $100 billion in development loans to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Moreno has the vision to ignite economic growth through strong private sector and entrepreneurial activity, which will strengthen the institutional foundations of freedom and democracy, fight poverty and open greater economic opportunities for all.

Economic vitality through free trade is the linchpin that sustains democratic foundations and provides for a more secure and stable region. Without economic vitality, democratic governments become unstable and the threat of illegal immigration into the U.S. increases.

Collectively, the nations of the Americas can become a tremendous economic force that individually would be impossible to achieve. That's why DR-CAFTA's passage was so vital as the next step in opening broader trading partnerships and why it must not be the final one.





Jorge L. Arrizurieta is president of Florida FTAA Inc. and former United States alternate executive director of the Inter-American Development Bank.

DR-CAFTA's passage will now create tremendous momentum for a new wave of key trade agreements involving the United States and our southern neighbors, particularly reigniting talks toward the conclusion of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which began in Miami a decade ago.

That is what we don’t want to happen

If DR-CAFTA had failed to pass, any momentum for the FTAA would have died with it

We will fight to kill the FTAA as well

Now, negotiators can return to the bargaining table in good faith to resume the FTAA process and work toward creation of the world's most formidable trading partnership, involving 34 democracies with 800 million consumers and a combined gross domestic product of $14 trillion.

Let the globalist celebrate their small victory for it shall not last!

Miami is the leading U.S. contender for the FTAA Permanent Secretariat. Most of the DR-CAFTA nations, along with Uruguay, have publicly endorsed Miami as their choice for the FTAA secretariat.

What the heck is a "Permanent Secretariat"? Is that some type of UN like Center? I think Bogotá would be better.

Beyond the FTAA, other key developments for free trade in the hemisphere should not be overlooked. For instance, the U.S. is working diligently on separate bilateral agreements with Panama and a regional agreement with the Andean nations. Negotiators for the U.S. and the three Andean countries of Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, and a Bolivian participating as an observer, wrapped up five days of talks in Miami on July 22 and declared that the meeting was their most successful.

Take your Free Trade Agreements and flush them.

Another sign that tremendous economic opportunities in Latin America are about to be awakened occurred with the recent election of Luis Alberto Moreno, Colombia's ambassador to the United States, as president of the Inter-American Development Bank, which has provided more than $100 billion in development loans to Latin America and the Caribbean

Let me guess, another globalist banker?

which will strengthen the institutional foundations of freedom and democracy, fight poverty and open greater economic opportunities for all.

Economic vitality through free trade is the linchpin that sustains democratic foundations and provides for a more secure and stable region. Without economic vitality, democratic governments become unstable and the threat of illegal immigration into the U.S. increases.

WOW! Isn’t that what they said about CAFTA as well? Americans aren’t as stupid as you have tried to make them out to be.

Collectively, the nations of the Americas can become a tremendous economic force that individually would be impossible to achieve. That's why DR-CAFTA's passage was so vital as the next step in opening broader trading partnerships and why it must not be the final one.

We DO NOT WANT TO BECOME THE NATIONS OF THE AMERICAS! WE WANT TO REMAIN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! QUIT TRYING TO MELD US INTO ONE GROUP. REMEMBER THE WAR OF INDEPENDNCE!