Stories for November 2nd 2005
Illegal fishing fleets and convenience flags plundering the seas
Illegal fishing fleets are plundering the seas and endangering depleted fish stocks by taking advantage of international rules by which they can adopt “flags of convenience” from other countries to provide a cover for their activities.
Chavez forecasts Americas summit will “bury” FTAA
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez forecasted that the coming Americas Summit in Mar del Plata, Argentina will definitively “bury” the United States sponsored Free Trade of the Americas Association, FTAA.
Bush's Americas Summit agenda: democracy and trade
President George W. Bush described United States relations with Latin America as “good” and said his administration's polity is to be “good neighbours and good friends” with the region stressing upon the shared values of democracy.
Insulza sees tough going for FTAA at summit
OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza said in an interview published Wednesday that he believed it would be hard to make progress on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) at the Summit of the Americas, which will be held later this week in Mar del Plata, Argentina.
Spain hopeful of agreement on Gibraltar
Describing Gibraltar as an extremely sensitive issue for Spain, Director General for European Affairs Jose Pons declared that “we had never been as close to an agreement as we were at the time of the 2002 joint sovereignty negotiations”.
Chavez challenges Bush to a FTAA debate
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said in Caracas he is willing to debate, during the coming Americas Summit in Argentina, with US president George Bush on the merits of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, FTAA.
Bush admits FTAA “stalled”, but “priority” is Doha round
United States president George W. Bush admitted that negotiations for a free trade zone embracing 34 countries of the hemisphere, Free Trade Area of the Americas, FTAA which was scheduled to begin functioning 2005/ 2006 are stalled.
