Chavez
Set to Face Bush
C. L. Cook
PEJ News
October 30, 2005
Chavez
told his television and radio audience he expects Bush will focus on
reviving the largely moribund Free Trade of the Americas (FTAA)
agreement, a massive trade deal Chavez says is "doomed to
failure," adding:
"The debate in Mar del Plata will be
beautiful. I imagine it will be, because the gentleman Bush is going to
keep making his point."
The FTAA has been a focal point of
American trade delegations for both the Bush and Clinton
administrations, but the failure of expanded "free trade zones" to
improve the quality of life for Latin America's largely impoverished
populations has turned public opinion against the deal, and initiated a
continent-wide political move to the left.
Chavez left no room for doubt as to where he stands on the deal,
saying:
"The
FTAA is dead. It will have to be buried. The people of this continent
will bury it, and another model of integration will emerge... in the
streets, there is a Latin American fervor. We'll see each other there
to defend our model."
Chavez maintains, the so-called
elimination of trade "barriers" inordinately favours the wealthy and
trans-global corporations, while doing little to better conditions for
the poor. His "Bolivarian Alternative," named for the 19th century
liberator, Simon Bolivar, is based on more "socialistic" principles,
the tenets of which hold that a broader distribution of wealth will
bring prosperity to all.
Over the last year, Chavez has used
Venezuela's considerable oil reserves to bolster Cuba and other
Caribbean nations, selling oil under special terms, and using the
currency boon garnered from record world oil prices to solidify his
standing with his neighbours by providing low-interest loans, accepting
payments in barter, and employing other development assistance.
Delineating his reform programme from the FTAA's goals, Chavez said:
"Our mission is socialist because it puts social aspects
first, Capitalists put capital first."
As with other high-level trade missions, the Summit
of the Americas meetings will
be shadowed by a "Peoples Summit," where indigenous, trade union, and
social justice groups from around the world will convene.
Chris Cook is a contributing editor to PEJ News. He also hosts Gorilla Radio, a weekly public affairs
program, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada. You can
check out the GR Blog
here.
