Thread: President should form Virtual Peace Corps

http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/08/2 ... 652157.php

Sunday, August 28, 2005

President should form Virtual Peace Corps

By ANDRES OPPENHEIMER
Knight Ridder Newspapers

If I were a U.S. ambassador in Latin America and were asked by President George W. Bush for recommendations for his forthcoming trip to Argentina for the 34-country Summit of the Americas, I would suggest that - in addition to trade and investment proposals - he create a Virtual Peace Corps.

This is what I would write:

Dear Mr. President:

We have a problem in this part of the world. Anti-Americanism is at record levels. There will be 10 presidential elections over the next 16 months - including those in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico and Nicaragua - that could change the region's political map for the worse.

Populism and socialist militarism are on the rise, supported by Venezuela's petrodollars. We could see a new cycle of anticapitalist rhetoric, capital flight, greater poverty and their customary corollaries - regimes that blame the United States for their self-inflicted problems as an excuse to stay in power forever.

Venezuela's strongman, Hugo Chávez, is taking advantage of Brazil's growing diplomatic weakness - resulting from its domestic corruption scandals - to try to take over that country's leadership role in South America. Meanwhile, the Chinese are everywhere, increasing their trade, political and military ties with most countries.

In this context, the United States, while still the biggest player in the region, is losing ground. Our biggest carrot, the promise to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas, faces an uncertain future.

Most Latin American leaders would tell you that you could make a big splash at the Nov. 4-5 summit by showing a willingness to cut our outrageous agricultural subsidies. But I'm aware that you are not prepared to do this unless the Europeans do the same.

Most Latin American leaders would also tell you that you should offer a U.S. Infrastructure Fund for the Americas, much like the European Union did for its poorest members. But I'm aware of your position that unless Latin America learns to make better use of the $270 billion it receives annually from exports to the United States, the $20 billion it receives in U.S. investments and the $32 billion it gets in family remittances, no amount of foreign aid will help.

I suggest that, in addition to signaling a willingness to discuss agricultural subsidies and an infrastructure fund, you should offer something concrete, highly visible and given directly to the people.

You should announce the creation of the Virtual Peace Corps. The idea has been making the rounds at the Miami- based Network Access Point of the Americas, a major Internet connection center in the hemisphere, and it calls for technological assistance in education and health.

We could offer free English courses through U.S.-accredited online universities. These courses could be backed up by free CDs and distributed by U.S. consulates, which could invite people to copy them freely without intellectual- property restrictions.

We could also offer business and education courses. The University of Phoenix Online alone says it has more than 1,000 students in Latin America. In addition, the U.S. government could open telediagnostic and teleconsultation centers to offer local physicians and patients a second opinion from U.S. doctors in difficult cases where local expertise is not available.

Installing equipment at U.S. consulates would cost as little as $50,000 per country, says Guillermo Amore, a Network Access Point of the Americas director.

Granted, Mr. President, the Virtual Peace Corps would not change things overnight. But it would be something concrete that could benefit millions of people directly while we have time to untangle the bigger trade and investment issues that separate us.

CONTACT US: Andres Oppenheimer is a Latin America correspondent for the Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132; e-mail: aoppenheimer@herald.com.

How about we just 86 the FTAA? The Free Trade Area of Americas is just as bad as CAFTA in giving up our country and is just as illegal.