[biztech-discussion] More fun w/Zoellick (please note the article date)
- From: "tkdunyak" <tkdunyak@xxxxxxx>
- To: <biztech-discussion@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2004 07:22:39 -0500
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Robert Zoellick's Free Trade Evangelism
By Toni Solo
Special to CorpWatch
November 17, 2003 =20
=20
=20
Photo: Cartoonist: Khalil Bendib =20
Free trade advocates and multinational corporations are pinning =
their hopes on Robert Zoellick, the United States trade representative, =
as negotiators from around the two continents gather in Miami this week =
for the Free Trade of the Americas talks.=20
At the meeting scheduled for November 20th and 21st, the trade =
ministers are expected to seek agreement on guidelines for a new stage =
of negotiations for an inter-hemispheric trade accord.=20
As an economics undersecretary for former president George Bush =
who led negotiations for the U.S. state department in the North American =
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Zoellick will attempt to use that =
experience at the table in Miami to cut new trade deals.=20
"We're not stopping. We're moving with the countries that are =
willing to go," he recently told reporters, referring to the creation of =
bilateral and regional free trade agreements.=20
Yet critics say that the free trade deal will simply enrich big =
corporations that Zoellick has worked for in the past -- for example, he =
was a paid consultant on the Enron advisory board before joining the US =
administration, earning $50,000 in fees from the company.=20
But his negotiating skills failed just this past September when =
the G-21, a newly emerging and united front of developing nations who =
were determined to come to the table as equals, walked away from United =
States bullying tactics at the Cancun ministerial of the World Trade =
Organization in September causing the global free trade talks to =
collapse.=20
Bullying Costa Rica
Here in Central America there are mixed feelings about Zoellick =
who moved aggressively to target the countries that joined the G-21: =
Costa Rica and Guatemala, by threatening their membership in a proposed =
Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).=20
"I told them that the emergence of the G-21 might pose a big =
problem to this agreement since our Congress resents the fact that =
members of CAFTA are also in the G-21," he said. "If we want to =
construct a common future with them, resistance and protest do not =
constitute an effective strategy. In my talks with some of these =
countries, I sense that they are drawing the right conclusions."=20
In addition Zoellick warned Costa Rica in early October that it =
must open its services market and privatize its telecommunications, =
electricity and insurance industries if it wants to join CAFTA.=20
Costa Rica has drawn the greatest anger from the U.S. government =
because it cancelled the license of Harken, a Texas-based company, for =
oil exploration for an estimated 2.3 billion barrels of oil and 6 =
trillion cubic feet of natural gas, off Costa Rica's Caribbean coastal =
port of Moin. News of the company's plans helped rally a massive =
international campaign against oil drilling in Costa Rica, whose economy =
is heavily dependent on tourism.=20
The company, which once counted George Bush, the current U.S. =
president, among its board members, demanded that Costa Rica enter =
arbitration before the International Center for Settlement of Investment =
Disputes (ICSID), a branch of the World Bank, this past September. The =
company asked for $57 billion in claimed investment and damages, a =
figure that represents about four times the country's annual gross =
domestic product.=20
Environment minister Carlos Manuel Rodriguez insists that because =
SETEN, the ministry's technical secretariat, rejected the company's =
environmental impact study - necessary for the project to move forward - =
the contract is no longer valid.=20
Costa Rican president Pacheco also flatly refused arbitration, =
saying the company had not exhausted local administrative and judicial =
settlement methods called for by the company's contract.=20
"Privileges" of Free Trade
Indeed the philosophy of the U.S. bilateral and regional trade =
negotiating positions were revealed in a recent speech this May to the =
Institute for International Economics in Washington DC, by Zoellick, who =
said: "The U.S. seeks cooperation--or better--on foreign policy and =
security.=20
Given that the U.S. has international interests beyond trade, why =
not try to urge people to support our overall policies? Negotiating a =
free-trade agreement with the U.S. is not something one has a right =
to--it's a privilege, he added.=20
Examples of those trading privileges are easy to come by here in =
Central America: agricultural aid and other concessions were used by the =
Reagan administration to bribe and cajole Honduras into serving as a =
military base for illegal aggression against Nicaragua throughout the =
1980s.=20
Telecoms Tall Tales
Meanwhile ordinary citizens in Central America, whose governments =
have failed to hold firm against privatization like Costa Rica, are now =
paying for the failure of their governments.=20
For example in El Salvador, Antel telecoms company and CAESS =
energy distribution company were privatized while other state firms are =
being made prepared for sale.=20
Advocates of free trade insisted privatization would increase =
efficiency and lowers costs but the opposite happened. Currently in El =
Salvador a basic residential telephone costs 274% of the cost in Costa =
Rica. The cost per call by minute is 43% dearer in El Salvador for =
normal rate calls. In Costa Rica the state monopoly charges by the =
second whereas in El Salvador the charge is rounded up to the next =
minute.=20
Meanwhile in Nicaragua, where half of the former state monopoly =
remains to be sold, controversy surrounds the holding company of the =
monopoly's residuary body, Uretel, in the run up to the final sell off.=20
Dodgy book keeping seems to have stripped out benefits that should =
have gone to the government. Mysterious losses have been alleged of up =
to US$9million. Equally mysteriously, the book value of the company's =
capital equipment seems to have fallen by US$16million.=20
Telecom workers' union leaders fear maneuvers to lower the value =
of the company prior to the sale so as to increase profits for the =
eventual buyers. The company has yet to render accounts to the residuary =
body since the company was partially privatized in 2000.=20
Unexpected Criticism
According to Cyril Mychalejko at the Florida Fair Trade Coalition, =
the FTAA has been unexpectedly criticized by the World Bank, which =
usually supports free trade. Mychalejko writes:
"A new World Bank study, published in October, suggests that =
unless rules for the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas are =
radically changed, Latin America and the Caribbean will continue to =
suffer from the growing poverty and inequality that plague the region.=20
"'Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean: Breaking with =
History?', the World Banks annual report on the region released last =
month, states that the poor and ethnic minorities lack of access to =
public services and decision-making on political, economic and social =
policies are responsible for Latin Americas problems.=20
"'This inequality slows the pace of poverty reduction, and =
undermines the development process itself,' said David de Ferranti, =
World Bank vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean.=20
"The report suggests that to reverse this trend, the regions =
political and social institutions need to be more inclusive and that the =
poor need more access to high-quality public services, which include =
education, health, water and electricity."=20
=20
-- Binary/unsupported file stripped by Ecartis --
-- Type: image/gif
-- File: spacer.gif
-- Binary/unsupported file stripped by Ecartis --
-- Type: image/jpeg
-- File: h-FTAA.jpg
Other related posts:
- » [biztech-discussion] More fun w/Zoellick (please note the article date)
