[Dripping blood and dirt from every pore, bound and
gagged, shackled and chained, hooded, kidnapped,
interrogated, blasted and burned, collaterally damaged,
foetally deformed, genetically altered, embargoed,
starved, drugged and diseased we are cordially
invited to come and shop at George Bush II's
"Free Market"...
(Bill Howard)]
[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ]
[Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ]
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----- Original Message -----
From: Alan Dover <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: M-L list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, January 19, 2002 7:48 AM
Subject: [MLL] FW: LASC: Bush on Central America Trade
-----Original Message-----
From: Nicaragua Network [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Saturday, January 19, 2002 5:05 AM
To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'
Subject: LASC: Bush on Central America Trade
January 17, 2002
Bush Declares Free Markets Are Essential for Americas
By DAVID E. SANGER
New York Times
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 - President Bush invited Central American nations
tonight to strike a separate trade accord with the United States and
cautioned Argentina against using the country's economic crisis as an
excuse to backtrack on free-market reforms or return to an era of
protectionism.
Mr. Bush's speech at the headquarters here of the Organization of
American States was intended, his aides said, to demonstrate that
despite making counterterrorism the new focus of his foreign policy, he
has not turned back on the central foreign policy commitment he made
last year: A new focus on the Western Hemisphere.
But Mr. Bush used the occasion to send a strong message to the new
president of Argentina, Eduardo Duhalde, who more than once in the past
two weeks has suggested that the American led "model" of economic
development - particularly rapid market openings and deregulation -
contributed to Argentina's economic crisis.
Without naming Mr. Duhalde, save for a brief word of praise for the new
president, Mr. Bush said that "Argentina - and nationals throughout our
hemisphere - need to strengthen our commitment to market-based reform,
not weaken it."
"Shortcuts to reform only lead to more trouble," he said. "Half-measures
will not halve the pain, only prolong it."
Mr. Bush's economic and security advisers would not say this evening
what "half-measures" he was referring to, but it seemed obvious.
While Argentina has abandoned pegging its currency to the dollar, a
policy that kept inflation in check but badly hurt the competitiveness
of Argentina's products - Mr. Duhalde has created a two-tiered exchange
rate that is designed to inflict pain on major banks and investors, not
the public. It is unclear whether that is sustainable.
He has also declared a moratorium on the repayment of public debt, which
is bound to scare away any investors who did not flee when the country
was sinking deeper into trouble.
And while Mr. Duhalde has talked about the need for fiscal discipline,
he has not yet said how he will deal with a huge budget deficit. Cutting
government spending is likely to reignite rioting that has already been
rampant through the crisis.
The International Monetary Fund agreed today to delay, for one year, a
loan repayment of $933 million, due for repayment on Thursday. While the
United States voted for the delay, and touted that as a sign of support
for the country, the reality was that Argentina is in no position to pay
the money, and has already defaulted on other loans.
When Mr. Bush met with Latin American leaders in Canada early last year,
at one of the first big summit meetings of his presidency, there was
little public questioning of the value of American-style economic reform
measures. But tonight Mr. Bush felt that the pendulum had swung far
enough that he had to note that "some are questioning the path to
prosperity. Some wonder whether free market reforms are too painful to
continue. Some question the fairness of free and open trade, holding out
the false comfort of protectionism."
But he argued that countries that "stay on the hard road of reform are
rewarded," ticking off Chile's success in cutting poverty, and Mexico's
recovery from the 1995 economic crisis. He noted that the United States
had "made a mistaken and failed experiment with wage and price controls"
in the 1970's, without mentioning that the plans had been devised by
Republican presidents.
Mr. Bush also said that he would seek a free trade accord with the
countries of Central America - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras and Nicaragua. Because these are the smaller nations in the
region, administration officials believe that they will be the easiest
negotiating partners for an accord - and that any regional agreement
will prompt Argentina and Brazil, both much larger economies, to follow
suit.
A new "Free Trade Area of the Americas" is scheduled to be negotiated by
2005, and if it is successful it would essentially extend NAFTA
throughout the hemisphere.
But meeting that ambitious schedule may depend on Argentina's recovery.
So far, Argentinian and Brazilian officials have said in recent weeks
that they see relatively little potential benefit for their countries in
a hemispheric accord.
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