A few mainstream media headlines are using the words “failed” or “failure” to describe the Free Trade Area of the Americas talks in Mar del Plata, Argentina. President Bush did not come away from the meeting of 34 South American countries with a free trade agreement, but the word failure makes it sound like the game is lost, when in reality it is actively ongoing. The negotiations have actually been going on since President Bill Clinton initiated the proposal in 1994. I suppose Clinton was also a failure using Reuters and ABC News logic.
Showdown: Bush, Chavez defend their corners: In a battle of ideologies played out at the 34-nation summit, Bush's capitalist, free-trade agenda was countered by Chavez's brand of "21st century socialism." … In Bush's corner, Mexican President Vicente Fox said that 29 countries were "in line" to create the FTAA. Chavez's radical anti-FTAA opposition did not pick up similar support at the summit, where the trade issue dominated the debates despite the declared main theme of job creation.Poverty and economic inequality are serious problems in Latin America. It is therefore understandable that achieving a continent wide political consensus on the best approach for improving the lives of millions is difficult. The four governments of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay are not ready to sign a treaty until further details are worked out, especially the US Government policy of taxpayer funded farm subsidies.
The larger picture is that 29 countries are leaning in favor of free trade, 4 are holding out over details and 1 government is in active opposition. Hugo Chavez is adamant about pursuing an alternative means of government control of society. He even had his own conference last week.
Communism Lives in South America: "We have shown how the workers can run the companies, and this means we can run society as well" (Ricardo Moreira, PIT-CNT, Uruguay)When the workers took over the Cumanacoa Sugar Mill they immediately increased its production from the existing 20% of capacity to save jobs. Work is something you get paid for, so more sugar must mean more money. Hugo says that is how it works in theory.
In the opening rally, which took place at the Teresa Carreño Theatre, with 3,000 worker activists present, president Chávez explained how it is capitalism that closes down factories and that these "must be recovered by the workers". He compared the struggle of the occupied factories movement to the struggle for independence from Spanish rule in the 19th century and underlined the "potential of the workers in our continent to break their chains and leave capitalism behind".
