Actualidad Colombiana IN ENGLISH

Now What? The Re-Election of Bush and the Future of Plan America and the FTAA

CÉSAR A. RODRÍGUEZ GARAVITO*

The Republicans swept the presidential and congressional elections this past November 2nd in the United States, thanks to the conservative religious vote of the center and the south of the country, provoking one obvious question: with a second mandate for President Bush and Republican majorities in both the House and the Senate, what will the repercussions be for Colombia? In particular, what will the effect be on the subjects that have dominated the recent agenda of relations between both countries, that is to say, regarding Plan Colombia and the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA)?

What Does the U.S. Want in the FTAA?

The Puerto Rico round coming up this week will not have any great surprises, at least not after the United States announced it will not be increasing its import of agricultural products

JAIRO BAUTISTA
Public Accountant Universidad Nacional
– Congressional Assessor of the Republic

The recent round in Lima left bitter experiences and lessons for those sectors of the Colombian economy believing faithfully that the commercial agreement with the United States would be beneficial. First of all, the North American negotiators presented their intentions, clear in principle, with respect to intellectual property, which go beyond including the Doha Round of the OMC and any national regulation in the matter. Secondly, the North Americans are not going to yield as far as agricultural protection is concerned and will harden their position with respect to the non-tariff barriers. Thirdly, the subject of U.S. income will not be up for discussion, since, for them, it is a matter of national, not trade, security.

Atlanta: the second round of the FTAA

The return of the negotiation in Atlanta is the same as what we saw in Cartagena: little information, little consultation, a lot of pressure and few concrete results for the Andean countries

JAIRO BAUTISTA
Advisory Congress of the Republic

The results and the development of the installation of the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) in Cartagena promised that the conversations and agreements produced in the Atlanta round would be ultrasecret and a matter of the most effective maneuver of disinformation capable outside the national government. In effect, the results are not known even for those sectors that have been defending the FTAA with the United States.

Nevertheless, much worrisome data has filtered through to the mass media about the Atlanta negotiations and which we will now analyze:

FTAA with the USA: beginning of the end?

WILSON ALFONSO BORJA DÍAZ
Council Representative

Beyond the various news items and the secrecy surrounding the negotiations of the Free Trade of the Americas [FTAA, but TLC in Colombia] in Cartagena, there are unreported facts that are highly worrisome for the country.

First of all: in Colombia it is not possible to be question sensitive subjects like the country's trade policy. The events in Cartegena demonstrate this clearly. Members of the government’s cabinet, such as the Minister of Defense, are labelling FTAA opponents as "cave dwellers."

FTAA

TLC with the USA: The Myth of the Eternal Return

by Ángel Libardo Herreño
ILSA Researcher

The round of negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement between Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and the United States [acronym in Spanish: TLC] began May 18th in the midst of an important social mobilization. The national government responded with unusual military suppression.

The debate over whether or not to sign the TLC with the U.S. has far-reaching implications for our political economy. Most importantly, how can Colombia develop in a way that guarantees growth in production and prosperity for the people? The TLC raises the big issues of control over international relations, national sovereignty, and which compromises we are willing to make in international trade. Huge differences and geographical distances exist between our national economy and the productive capacity of the United States.

One notable difference: in the U.S., there is one tractor to every one and a half farm workers; in Colombia, there is just one tractor for each 150 farm workers. This reflects not only a technical problem in the implementation of mechanized systems in the fields – something which cannot be done extensively on the Andean mountainsides – but constitutes a big difference in the size and stature of agricultural production between the two countries. Further, the U.S. benefits from a public system of agricultural subsidies, in place for a century.

Citizen debate days: FTAA

Days for citizens to debate the FTAA (June 14th and 18th)

Word document in Spanish