This Week in the Americas
By Laura Carlsen

The U.S. government launched a new trade offensive in Latin America this month. First, the new U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab came out swinging by announcing that three Latin American countries—Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela—have been placed on a special list for review within the General System of Preferences (GSP).

Analyst Ariela Ruiz Caro notes the USTR's threat to eliminate trade preferences is widely believed to be in retaliation for the stance these countries have taken in the WTO—holding back on market access until the U.S. agrees to end agricultural subsidies—and their opposition to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

Days later, the private-sector Council of the Americas along with the USTR Americas representative packed off to Uruguay to convince that nation to move toward signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States. Judging from the statements of President Tabaré Vazquez, they were pretty successful.

Vazquez said he intended to negotiate “the broadest possible trade agreement,” stating that the matter should not be viewed as ideological, and that an agreement with the United States could be complementary to regional integration within Mercosur as part of “a plurality of cooperation and integration schemes in the region …” Many within the president's own political group, the Broad Front, don't agree.

The amount of trade that may be affected by the two Washington initiatives is minimal and less important than the geopolitical significance. Uruguay constitutes a negligible portion of U.S. international trade but the opportunity to strike a blow to the heart of the Mercosur block figures prominently in U.S. strategies within the region. The entry of U.S. nemesis Venezuela into Mercosur heightens the symbolic struggle for the continent's hearts and minds.

Now that Peru's new president, Alan Garcia, has thrown his full support behind the U.S.-Peru FTA and the Peruvian Congress ratified it in a fast-track session, Riuz Caro points out that a “Pacific Axis” is taking shape, closely aligned to U.S. policies. This Pacific Axis includes Colombia, Peru, and Chile (with Ecuador still undecided) and erodes efforts at alternative forms of regional integration within the Mercosur.

Mercosur members Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay, and Paraguay have been having enough troubles deciding among themselves where they're going and how to get along. In addition to pressures from the United States , disillusionment with Mercosur has pushed the smaller countries— Uruguay and Paraguay —closer to the northern camp.

Paraguay continues to be a wild card with key strategic significance to all sides, as Raúl Zibechi points out. As a nation with “ungoverned territory” Paraguay has already been in the scopes of the U.S. Southern Command and host to U.S. military operations. Over the past few weeks, the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon drew renewed statements from the Treasury Department, which once again cited undisclosed evidence that the Tri-Border area between Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil is financing Hezbollah and international terrorism.

As if all this political upheaval weren't enough, nature has stepped in to play a defining role in the region as well. The death of Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner, and the failing health of Fidel Castro remind us that renovation is inevitable. Stroessner's death closed another chapter in the bloody history of dictatorships in the Southern Cone, and raised questions about how Chilean society will handle the eventual death of Pinochet. Many countries are now making important strides to deconstruct the walls of impunity that protected criminals of the past, notably Argentina where this month an infamous official of the dictatorship received the first sentence for repression handed down since repeal of the nation's impunity laws. Mavis Anderson of the Latin American Working Group notes that Castro's illness presents a dual challenge: to the island to define a new future, and to the Bush administration to maintain good neighbor principles of nonintervention in the internal affairs of other countries.

Laura Carlsen is director of the IRC Americas Program in Mexico City, where she has worked as a writer and political analyst for the past two decades. The Americas Program is online at www.americaspolicy.org.

Fidel’s Health and Implications for U.S. Policy
By Mavis Anderson

Transition in Cuba should be determined by the Cuban people, not the interference of the U.S. government.

Mavis Anderson is Senior Associate at the Latin America Working Group at www.lawg.org and a contributor to the IRC Americas Program, online at www.americaspolicy.org.

Paraguay: Platform for Hemispheric Hegemony
By Raúl Zibechi

Paraguay's strategic location and resources create a scenario of importance for SouthCom and U.S. dominance in the region.

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).

U.S. Trade Sanctions Seek to Pressure Latin America
By Ariela Ruiz Caro

The U.S. government hopes threats of trade sanctions will pull Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela into the fold. But it might just make them mad.

Ariela Ruiz Caro (ariela@independiente.com) is a Peruvian economist and international consultant and a regional trade analyst with the IRC Americas Program, online at www.americaspolicy.org.

Stroessner’s Death Closes Dark Chapter of History
By Raúl Pierri

The ex-dictator may have died, but how will his legacy affect Paraguay for generations to come?

Raúl Pierri writes on behalf of the Inter Press Service, where this article was originally published at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=34367.

If you would like to reproduce our articles for free, please cite the source, and let us know at americas@ciponline.org. We also welcome comments about our materials.

If you would like to unsubscribe, click on the link below that says "Update Profile/Unsubscribe". If you would like to subscribe for the first time to our multitude of topical lists, please go to http://app.streamsend.com/public/iKs8/Mr1/subscribe.

The Americas Program is a fiscally sponsored program of the
Center for International Policy
http://www.ciponline.org/
Email: americas@ciponline.org
Tel. in Mexico: (52 55) 5324-1201, U.S. phone: (202) 536-2649

Donations can be mailed to: (please specify Americas Program)

Center for International Policy
1717 Massachussets NW, Suite 801
Washington, DC 20036

Or by visiting the site: https://app.etapestry.com/hosted/CenterforInternationalPolic/OnlineGiving.html