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Author Topic: South America Prepares for Bush Visit
Transplant
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posted 03 November 2005 03:06 PM      Profile for Transplant     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
South Americans' Discontent Portends a Chilly Reception for Bush

Wash Post - As President Bush prepares for a visit to South America this week, thousands of people in the region have been preparing to make sure he knows exactly what they think of him.

In Argentina, where Bush will attend a Summit of the Americas conference Friday and Saturday, small bombs have been tossed at several American bank branches and chain stores, and soccer idol Diego Maradona has urged viewers of his popular TV talk show to join him in a protest to "say no to Bush" outside the meeting, being held in the seaside town of Mar del Plata.

In Brazil, where Bush will meet Sunday with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, thousands of protesters have stood outside the U.S. Embassy with signs labeling Bush "Public Enemy Number One."

The chilly welcome, according to public opinion polls, reflects a general slide of the U.S. government's popularity throughout South America. While some of the criticism centers on the war in Iraq, much of it is linked to regional economic policies such as privatization and low tariffs promoted by multinational lenders and supported by both the Clinton and Bush administrations.


From: Free North America | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
West Coast Tiger
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posted 04 November 2005 07:19 PM      Profile for West Coast Tiger     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Protests are escalating in Argentina.

Anti-Bush protests grow in Argentina

quote:
MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of marchers protested on Friday against U.S. President George W. Bush and his free-trade push, as leaders from the Americas gathered in an Argentine resort for a contentious debate on improving Latin America's economy.

A mixed bag of protesters -- from Bolivian Indian women in traditional bowler hats to mothers of Argentine "dirty-war" victims -- filled 15 city blocks carrying signs with "Fuera Bush" (Get out Bush) and flags with the face of Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara.

...


Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the leftist leader who opposes Bush's economic model, prepared to take the protesters' message inside the summit meeting room. He vowed to bury the stalled Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA.

...

A large Cuban delegation of athletes sent by President Fidel Castro, who was not invited to the summit, was also popular with the crowd, estimated at 25,000.



From: I never was and never will be a Conservative | Registered: Aug 2005  |  IP: Logged
Hawkins
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posted 04 November 2005 08:32 PM      Profile for Hawkins     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Oh but Pauli says that the FTAA will help the poor, like it did the Mexicans (and the Canadians *cough*).

What an idiot. He has an opportunity to find a new way to globalization - one that really does help the poor. Instead he becomes Bush's puppy. And he will go back to the dog house to find no bone for him.

CBC:Free trade key to fighting poverty: Martin


From: Burlington Ont | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged
Jeb616
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posted 04 November 2005 09:05 PM      Profile for Jeb616   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Hawkins:
Oh but Pauli says that the FTAA will help the poor, like it did the Mexicans (and the Canadians *cough*).

What an idiot. He has an opportunity to find a new way to globalization - one that really does help the poor. Instead he becomes Bush's puppy. And he will go back to the dog house to find no bone for him.

CBC:Free trade key to fighting poverty: Martin



Ive always had an intense distrust of Martin. He still touts NAFTA as is, and wants it for the whole hemisphere even though softwood issue has exposed that it really is just an empty framework.


From: Polar Bunker | Registered: Nov 2005  |  IP: Logged
Fidel
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posted 04 November 2005 09:15 PM      Profile for Fidel     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Chavez told supporters this meeting would be remembered as the burial of the U.S.-inspired Free Trade Agreement of the Americas.

The planet "is being destroyed under our own noses by the capitalist model, the destructive engine of development," Chavez said, adding that "every day there is more hunger, more misery thanks to the neo-liberal, capitalist model."


And Paul Martin knows that there are two ways for corporations to increase profits: downsize or with increased business. Martin knew it when he fired the Canadian crews of Canada Steamship Lines and replaced them with Indonesians who worked for a little over a buck an hour. And no overtime pay.

Remember Che


From: Viva La Revolución | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
radiorahim
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posted 04 November 2005 10:13 PM      Profile for radiorahim     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
At least this time those on the "outside" have a champion (Hugo Chavez) who can bring the message "inside".
From: a Micro$oft-free computer | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged
Cougyr
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posted 04 November 2005 11:33 PM      Profile for Cougyr     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Jeb616:
Ive always had an intense distrust of Martin.

Me too. Martin appears to want to be Prime Minister, but he shows no sign of actually being Prime Ministerial.


From: over the mountain | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged
'lance
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posted 04 November 2005 11:37 PM      Profile for 'lance     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Martin appears to want to be Prime Minister...

Perhaps, some day, he'll actually make it.


From: that enchanted place on the top of the Forest | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
Andrew_Jay
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posted 05 November 2005 12:02 AM      Profile for Andrew_Jay        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Funny, Chavez is all too happy to join Mercursor. Looks like this is a case where rabid hatred of America might be getting in the way of a perfectly good plan.

Say what you will about free trade, restricting trade ism't going to do much to help anyone in the developing world.


From: Extremism is easy. You go right and meet those coming around from the far left | Registered: Sep 2005  |  IP: Logged
a lonely worker
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posted 05 November 2005 12:10 AM      Profile for a lonely worker     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Sorry Andrew Jay but restricted trade with corporate raiders and governments who offer "aid" in exchange for privatization is the exact type of trade our world needs to "restrict" out of existence.

Chavez and others in Latin America / Carribean are trying to form a compltely new kind of trade were people help each other instead of signing agreements that help corporations get richer.

There is nothing fair in any of these "free" trade agreements pimped by Martin, Bush et al.

Its time for a new world order and Latin America is leading the way!


From: Anywhere that annoys neo-lib tools | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
Stargazer
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posted 05 November 2005 01:20 AM      Profile for Stargazer     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Great post lonely worker. I agree with what you said 100 percent. It's time to start to think differently about 'free-trade' as proposed by the dominant powers. Start thinking of the people and not lining corporate pockets at the expense of the environment, workers and a decent way of life free from the bullshit of what is now 'free-trade'.
From: Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist. | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
Andrew_Jay
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posted 05 November 2005 01:39 AM      Profile for Andrew_Jay        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
And what exactly is Chavez's "plan"? Free oil?

Has free-trade hurt Europe? What exactly makes people think that the people of Latin America can't handle it? From what I've read 29 of the 34 states are in favour of the free-trade area.

However, if the FTAA does get shot-down, hopefully the south will continue moving ahead with Mercursor and strengthening that trade bloc. Perhaps we'll see a new agreement between South America and North/Central America sometime in the future.


From: Extremism is easy. You go right and meet those coming around from the far left | Registered: Sep 2005  |  IP: Logged
beluga2
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posted 05 November 2005 03:04 AM      Profile for beluga2     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Has free-trade hurt Europe? What exactly makes people think that the people of Latin America can't handle it?

That parallel might be relevant if Europe consisted of one gigantic, rich, militarily aggressive, developed, hypocritical-on-trade-issues superpower, and a whole bunch of little developing nations traditionally crushed under the thumb of said superpower.

"Free" trade, to the degree that it exists in the real world (which isn't much) is only really conceivable between countries of relatively equal strength (like, say, in Europe). For God's sake, Canada's a lot bigger and stronger economically than any Latin American country -- has that stopped the US lately from pushing us into our locker and stealing our lunch money? If they'll bully us that way, how do you think they'd treat Honduras or Uruguay?

Why people even talk about "free trade" in the Dubya Age is beyond me. No agreement of any kind signed by those goons is worth the paper it's printed on. Even if it comes about, the FTAA will exist for only as long as it takes for the US to decide that they don't like one of its rulings and ignore it.


From: vancouvergrad, BCSSR | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged
Fidel
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posted 05 November 2005 03:26 AM      Profile for Fidel     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Does anyone remember TV commmercials promoting free trade with the States ?. Canadian taxpayers foot the bills for ads showing women trying on shoes across the border. One woman says to the other, "And just think, with free trade, we won't have to wear our old shoes back to Canada." Like as if import duties and border KGB would just evaporate.

Lyin' Brian Mulroney kept blathering jobs! jobs! jobs!. But according to Mel Hurtig's research, Canada produced over 3 million full-time jobs in the 13.25 years before FTA. And that's when exports of our raw materials was far less than today, and there were fewer Canadians entering the workforce every month.

In the 13.25 years after FTA was signed, the Canadian economy created a pathetic 1 380 000 full-time jobs. Industry Canada said it was about the worst job creation record of all industrialized nations leading up to 2001.

What's afta NAFTA ?.


From: Viva La Revolución | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
Hawkins
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posted 05 November 2005 12:08 PM      Profile for Hawkins     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I would point out that "governments" in favour of FTAA does not mean people.

1988 60% of Canadians voted for parties that had anti CAFTA(1) positions. Mulroney still "won" and brought it all through.

Once the Liberals got wind that it was generally nice to receive corporate money, hey who needed public opinion? You can just tell people whats good with commercials and ride in on anti Mulroneyism.

There is a "free trade" agreement between the US and central american countries. People got killed when they opposed that one.

Free trade in Mexico - did they consult the people on that one? PRI consulting anyone - even on election day was (and to a large extent still is) unlikely (unless it came with a vote buying handout or a police raid).


From: Burlington Ont | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged

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