[cia-drugs] Mexico calls on Mercosur to stop blocking FTAA

[Vigilius Haufniensis]

http://www.mercopress.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=6710 Mexico calls on Mercosur to stop blocking FTAA Rioting in the streets of Mar del Plata and ongoing disputes among leaders over free trade and the Free Trade Area of the Americas, FTAA, marked the first of the two days IV Summit of the Americas. Pte. Vicente Fox The anti Bush and anti FTAA riots followed a meeting in the Mar del Plata stadium where an estimated 40,000 people gathered to hear Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez blast “imperialism” and “Washington’s hegemony” next to other renowned world figures as former football star Diego Maradona. But in the Hermitage Hotel a clear continental split was evident with Mercosur members and Venezuela rejecting the idea of re-launching the stalled US promoted FTAA negotiations, and an estimated thirty other countries led by Mexico fully supporting the proposal. Mexican president Vicente Fox went further and called on Argentina as the host country, demanding an extraordinary effort to reach an agreement on the Summit’s final declaration regarding FTAA. “The host country must make an extraordinary effort so we can reach an agreement and Argentina must conduct the debate in a manner that is productive”, underlined Mr. Fox, adding that if Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) insist in not advancing towards a FTAA, then the rest of the countries must do so. “We are almost thirty countries that agree on this line and three or four who disagree. He who feels it will benefit him jump in, and those who don’t stay out. Whoever blocks an agreement such as FTAA certainly is looking through the eyes of its own interests and not the interests of the others”. Mr. Fox emphasized that “trade and investment are the way out for the region’s economies; we must build an appropriate FTAA and tailored for the poorer members, for the less developed countries”. In the Mar del Plata stadium Venezuelan presidents called on his fellow leaders to “keep away from Mr. Bush because he’s bad luck”, and Maradona referred to the US president as a “murderer” and “human trash”.