This Week in the Americas
Deciphering the Language of Globalization
By Laura Carlsen
What’s increasingly apparent is that the WTO, and indeed the entire concept of free trade globalization, has a communication problem. Most of the texts being negotiated are unintelligible to the untrained ear, which is to say to any normal person. For over a decade, trade liberalization has been presented as the path to development and the goal of all civilized nations. Its terminology became the accepted language of economics and its concepts formed the backbone for restructuring entire societies. Today, that consensus has broken down in both developed and developing countries. But the terms stubbornly persist, and thereby constitute an obstacle to devising new workable models of international trade rules and laying out viable alternatives to the arcane, dysfunctional free trade system. The discussion on how to create this kind of system is young yet. For it to grow, trade language must open up to embrace what were once considered heresies and find new terms to criticize previous canons.
Laura Carlsen, reporting from Hong Kong, directs the Americas Program of the International Relations Center, online at www.irc-online.org.
See full article online at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/2996
With printer-friendly PDF version at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/pdf/columns/0512decipher.pdf
For more IRC WTO analysis, see:
http://americas.irc-online.org/
Two Opposing Views of Social Change in Bolivia: Exclusive Interview with MAS’ Vice-Presidential Candidate
By Raúl Zibechi
Bolivia’s social movements divide roughly into two camps on the issue of how to effect structural reforms: those who advocate that the central government should play the leading role, and those who insist that organized civil society must play that role. Raúl Zibechi interviews leading voices on both side of this debate that is coursing through Bolivia’s powerful social movements. Not just another debate among leftist intellectuals, it’s an issue that has come to the forefront of Bolivian society and politics with the rising power of Evo Morales and the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS).
Raúl Zibechi, a member of the editorial board of the weekly Brecha de Montevideo, is a professor and researcher on social movements at the Multiversidad Franciscana de América Latina and adviser to several grassroots organizations. He is a monthly contributor to the IRC Americas Program (www.americaspolicy.org).
See full article online at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/2987
With printer-friendly PDF version at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/pdf/reports/0512views.pdf
For more on upcoming elections in Bolivia, see:
So What if Morales Wins in Bolivia, by Ronald Bruce St John
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/2988
Venezuela’s New Popular Movements Grow From Above and From Below
By Fred Rosen
Venezuela’s popular movements have diverse links to its poor barrios. Some have arisen from within the barrios themselves and are autonomous from other political forces, while others have been created by the now-ruling party, the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR). Still others are part of the broad Chávez political structure but have no formal connections to the party. Virtually all support President Chávez. Community-based movements and party- or government-sponsored movements like the Bolivarian Circles, the UVEs, or the missions represent two different kinds of popular social movements. The first arise autonomously from the barrios; the second are created, financed, and nourished by the government or the party. In the current political moment, all are fiercely loyal to Chávez, but not necessarily to Chávez’s party, the MVR, and not necessarily to all aspects of Chávez’s governance.
Fred Rosen is a political columnist for the Mexico edition of the Miami Herald, Contributing Editor of NACLA Report on the Americas, and contributor to the IRC Americas Program www.americaspolicy.org. He has lately divided his reporting time between Mexico and Venezuela.
See full article online at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/2952
With printer-friendly PDF version at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/pdf/reports/0511movements.pdf
U.S. Military Moves in Paraguay Rattle Regional Relations
By Sam Logan and Matthew Flynn
Both U.S. and Paraguayan officials are emphatic in saying that there is no permanent base in the works, yet the construction of an airstrip in the northern region of Paraguay suggests at the very least the possibility of a tighter military relationship. The airstrip at Mariscal Estigarribia, located close to the borders of Bolivia and Brazil, is 3,800 meters long and 80 meters wide-large enough to handle large transport aircraft and bigger than the national airport in Asuncion, the country’s capital city. U.S. support for the construction since the 1980s had gone unnoticed until recently, but the immunity agreement and military training program have increased suspicions that the United States is building a stronghold in a region that is increasingly being defined as strategic to that country’s interests.
Sam Logan and Matthew Flynn are journalists based in South America and are contributors to the Americas Program of the International Relations Center, at www.irc-online.org.
See full article online at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/2991
With printer-friendly PDF version at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/pdf/reports/0512paraguay.pdf
Chile is Losing Partner in Free Trade Agreements
By Hugo Fazio
Chile’s President Ricardo Lago would be hard put to argue that the free trade agreements he signed during his tenure have either boosted the economy or fostered development. According to this author, a Chilean economist, Chile’s exports have increased, but at annual rates that are consistently below the rate of total exports. What’s more, the trading agreements with the United States and the European Union have opened the door to a rush of imports that are quickly outstripping, threatening to burden Chile with a trade deficit with the United States and other large trading countries.
Hugo Fazio is an economist, university professor, and director of the National Center for Alternative Development Studies (CENDA in Spanish) http://www.cep.cl/ in Santiago, Chile. He is a contributor to the IRC Americas Program www.ircamericas.org.
See full article online at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/2989
With printer-friendly PDF version at:
http://americas.irc-online.org/pdf/commentary/0512chile.pdf
Letters from our Readers
Re: Timely Demise for Free Trade Area of the Americas
The coming decrease in the amount of petro-fuel available to support a global marketplace will surely impact international trade. Markets are likely to revert to locally produced goods, at least low value/high bulk goods like food and fiber. I do not see any mention of this imminent trend and wonder if there is a disconnect between those who follow energy issues and those who track trade issues.
--Dennis Paull
