SunSpot.net. April
25, 2001.
THE STUNNING aspect of the summit of 34 American nations in Quebec City
over the weekend was that all the heads of government were elected by their
peoples. That has often not been the case in the Americas. This legitimacy is
what stands out most about their commitment to strengthen democracy in the
hemisphere and to negotiate a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) by 2005.
Only Fidel Castro of Cuba was not there, excluded by the club as a dictator.
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti endured a lecture from the host,
fellow Francophone Prime Minister Jean Chretien of Canada, for the shortcomings
in his election last May. The notion of restricting the proposed free trade area
to democracies, though vaguely stated, strengthens fair elections and
discourages coups. That said, this idea of expanding the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into an FTAA of 800 million people from the Arctic
Circle to Tierra del Fuego won't come easily. Brazil's President Fernando
Henrique Cardoso is skeptical of U.S. and Canadian willingness to accept
manufactured products from low-wage workers. Venezuela's flamboyant Hugo Chavez
pronounced reservations on the timetable rather than the content. George W.
Bush, whose comfort in conversational Spanish is a first for a U.S. president,
proved an effective spokesman for trade. Hemispheric relations looks like his
strongest suit in foreign policy. But he has slim chance of quickly winning
fast-track negotiating authority from Congress, which would be needed to meet
the target date. In contrast to these leaders, the demonstrators on the streets
were an odd mixture of nihilists, principled opponents of capitalism and
supporters of the environment -- speaking for themselves, elected by no one.
Those who choose violence to get attention do so because their numbers are not
great and their arguments are not persuasive. But they have found their role and
are not going away. Criticism on behalf of U.S. workers and the environment are
valid concerns. The International Labor Organization is the body best able to
promote them. The demonstrators' phoniest argument is that they speak for the
world's poor. The best hope for those ground down in poverty is to participate
in the world economy, not be shut out. The "economic miracles" and "tigers"
of the past half-century have prospered on connection, not isolation. The summit
was an auspicious start to the Bush initiative in freer trade. But only a start.
The follow-ups will be decisive.
Copyright © 2001, The Baltimore Sun |
