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Bush signs “fast track” trade bill;
Uribe tells Colombians not to expect miracles; Bolivia Swears In New Leader; O'Neill, S. American Executives Meet

Bush signs "fast track" trade bill

U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday signed into law a bill giving him "fast track" authority to negotiate trade treaties and designed to help the United States recover its leadership in international trade. Fast track, now known as trade promotion authority, will lead to the creation of better jobs in the United States, as well as "giving other countries the confidence to negotiate with us," Bush said during the signing ceremony at the White House. Bush hailed the efforts of Democratic and Republican legislators "who put their country ahead of their parties to do what was right for the people of this country" by approving the bill. "Starting now, America is back at the bargaining table in full force," he said. Trade promotion authority (TPA), established in 1974 as fast track authority, allows the president to submit trade agreements to Congress, which must either approve or nix the treaties but cannot alter them. In 1994, Congress denied then-President Bill Clinton fast track authority due mainly to concerns raised by labor and environmental groups. "And now, after eight years, America is back in the business of promoting open trade to build our prosperity and to spur our economic growth," Bush said, addressing an audience that included several congressmen who advocated the trade measure and ambassadors from Andean nations. TPA approval comes a few months prior to the November legislative elections, in which the recovery of the U.S. economy will take center stage. The approval represents an important political and trade victory for Bush, particularly because consumers and foreign investors have become more and more cautious, fearing the onset of another recession worse than the last. The White House mounted a massive lobbying campaign to see the bill through Congress, arguing that opening trade barriers benefits not only the nation's farmers and workers, but also countries seeking to enter the U.S. market. The law also renewed the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), which gives thousands of products from Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru preferential treatment in recognition of these countries' efforts to combat drug trafficking. Although ATPA expired last December, Andean exporters will be compensated for the high tariffs paid since then to bring their products into the United States. The law sparked a prolonged debate between Democrats and Republicans about whether opening trade barriers would result in a loss of U.S. jobs to foreign competitors. TPA will allow the White House to participate fully in the next round of trade negotiations that were initiated last November in Qatar, where many countries criticized the tariffs Washington slapped on steel imports, as well as the multi-million dollar subsidies doled out to U.S. farmers. The law also facilitates the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) by 2005, which would become the largest trading bloc in the world with nearly 850 million consumers from Patagonia to Alaska

Uribe tells Colombians not to expect miracles

On the eve of his inauguration, Colombian president-elect Alvaro Uribe told Colombians on Tuesday not to expect miracles regarding the nation's ongoing civil conflict. Colombians cannot expect miracles because the nation's problem's are very difficult," Uribe, a hard-liner elected in May on pledges to deal with the country's leftist rebels, told La FM radio station. After he takes the oath of office on Wednesday, Uribe is expected to introduce proposals to boost military spending, freeze the salaries of Congress, the president and judges and hold a referendum aimed at dissolving and then halving Congress to save money and limit the damage done by corruption. "All of the savings have to go to education," the 50-year-old lawyer and Medellin native said. Despite the talk of savings, Uribe would likely need additional international aid for his plan to drastically increase the size of the armed forces as a means of better protecting Colombians from FARC guerrillas and the illegal paramilitary groups that fight them. Outgoing President Andres Pastrana on Tuesday tried to underscore that his approach to solving the four-decade conflict had not been a complete failure. "Today, the guerillas have been defeated both nationally and internationally. Nationally they are backed by just 1 percent of the population, while abroad they appear on the United States' and European Union's list of terrorists," Pastrana said. Earlier this year amid an escalation in the violence and kidnappings, Pastrana suspended peace talks with the country's main rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Bolivia Swears In New Leader

U.S.-educated businessman Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada was sworn in Tuesday as president of Bolivia and immediately announced emergency measures aimed at lifting South America's poorest nation out of a steep economic decline. The 72-year-old millionaire also called for unity among the restive population to confront what he called a "great national crisis." "The moment of change has arrived," he said shortly after Vice President Carlos Mesa placed the red, green and yellow presidential sash around his neck in a special session of Congress to begin his five-year term. "This country has to unite, because unity is strength." Sanchez de Lozada's emergency program is designed to create jobs through five major public works projects, including the construction of a cross-country highway and public housing. With Bolivia's economy stuck in recession, crime and unemployment are on the rise in the Andean nation, where six out of 10 people live in poverty. Workers have taken to the streets to demand wage increases. The new president also pledged to end corruption and the exclusion of the poor and marginalized. "We'll call a truce and a social pact to get Bolivia out of this terrible economic crisis, which could get worse and which could turn into collapse," he said. Sanchez de Lozada, a mining executive, also was president from 1993 to 1997. He spent most of his youth in the United States and studied at the University of Chicago. He won just 22 percent of the vote in national elections in June. Congress, which must pick a president if no candidate wins an outright majority, chose him Sunday over second-place finisher Evo Morales. Sanchez de Lozada's calls for a truce were directed at opposition forces led by Morales, 42, an Aymara Indian and leader of Bolivian farmers who grow coca, the base ingredient of cocaine. Coca was a central part of centuries-old indigenous culture in the Andes. Morales had led sometimes violent protests against a coca eradication program that has wiped out most of Bolivia's crop. The unpopular program has led to deadly clashes between police and farmers, but the United States hails it as a major success in the war on drugs. Morales stunned observers and Bolivia's elite in June by coming in a close second to Sanchez de Lozada. Congress selected Sanchez de Lozada by a 84-43 margin Sunday. Hundreds of Sanchez de Lozada's supporters crammed La Paz's main plaza outside Congress, waving the pink flags of his Nationalist Revolutionary Movement party while a band played traditional Andean flute and drum music. Helmeted police patrolled surrounding streets with bomb-sniffing dogs. Aurora Carrasco, a 32-year-old nurse, pushed up against a crowd-control rope for a glimpse of the new president, universally known by the nickname "Goni." "Goni is well-prepared for the job. He did so much good work during his first presidency, but he didn't have enough time to finish it all. That's why we re-elected him," she said, a pink scarf draped on her neck. Morales' Movement to Socialism party took 35 seats in the legislature, with many delegates giving divisive speeches during Sunday's congressional debate. They pledged an aggressive opposition against Sanchez de Lozada's coalition with former president Jaime Paz Zamora's party. "There's a new political map in the country," said political analyst Jorge Lazarte. "We have a government comprised of two so-called traditional forces, a government that does not have an electoral majority and that will be weak before a very contentious Congress" Sanchez de Lozada has promised to continue eradication, a decision analysts said could fuel social tensions. Morales told reporters Tuesday he would lead a "constructive opposition, searching for peaceful solutions in Congress." But he warned that street protests and highway blockades would resume if the government continues its eradication policy. He also urged Sanchez de Lozada to solve the problems of Bolivia's poor and to not just represent "transnational companies." If not, Morales said, "I calculate this government will last two to three years."

O'Neill, S. American Executives Meet

U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill met with President Eduardo Duhalde and business executives Tuesday to discuss the general unraveling of Argentina's economy, including its debt default, currency devaluation and 22 percent unemployment rate. As O'Neill arrived from Uruguay ? where he praised that country's medicine for its banking crisis ? about 1,500 demonstrators marched through the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, holding signs saying, "Yankees, get out of Latin America!", and burning an American flag. Many here blame free market systems for failing to end the poverty of half of Argentina's 36 million people. The country has been rocked by December street riots and the shut-off of billions of dollars in international aid for failing to meet budget-cutting targets. "We resent O'Neill and we resent the politicians of the United States and the world coming to our country," unemployed 22-year-old Patricia Vergara said while holding a sign reading, "O'Neill go home!". She added, "They are responsible for the repression of our people. Capitalism needs to go." Others, however, blame corruption and government bungling for Argentina's worst recession on record. Argentina has struggled this year to win renewed international economic aid, but the country has been urged to devise a sustainable plan for ending a four-year recession and repairing a tottering banking system that nearly collapsed. During their 35-minute meeting, Duhalde told O'Neill that Argentina needs international financial aid as soon as possible, Duhalde spokesman Eduardo Amadeo said, adding that O'Neill "had a cordial response." O'Neill's four-day South American trip reflects Washington's concern about the region's widening economic troubles. He opened the trip on Sunday in Brazil and spent three hours in Uruguay on Tuesday before arriving here just before sundown. The angry chants of Argentine demonstrators differed from the reception O'Neill received in Uruguay. There, President Jorge Batlle thanked him for Monday's $1.5 billion emergency U.S. loan that rescued Uruguay's banking system from a run on deposits. On June 30, Uruguay shut its banks for four days, reopening them Monday after the U.S. Federal Reserve wired the loan. The country's reserves plunged from about $3 billion in January to $655 million in July after massive withdrawals by depositors. The Uruguay loan was the first time the Bush administration has provided direct economic support to a country in financial crisis. Asked in Montevideo why Uruguay qualified for a loan and neighbors like Argentina did not, O'Neill responded: "Why Uruguay? Because Uruguay is a country that has followed very sound economic policies." He added, "Even countries that are close by each other are very different and, therefore, we think the circumstances of each country have to be evaluated differently." Alberto Bernal, a Latin America expert at the IdeaGlobal think tank in New York, said the Bush administration went out of its way to help Uruguay for fear that Argentina's economic calamity could spread. But he said the Bush administration remains adverse to even short-term loans like the one to Uruguay ? which must be repaid, with interest, after International Monetary Fund assistance comes through within days. "O'Neill is very uncomfortable about this whole trip but he has to do it anyway," Bernal said. "He's uncomfortable because his philosophy of the future of capital markets, his basic view, is that bailouts are not efficient." While in Brazil Tuesday, O'Neill called South America's largest economy a good place to invest, bidding to boost its jittery markets and sagging currency. "I have thought for a long time, since I have direct responsibility for investing billions of dollars, Brazil is a good place to invest," O'Neill said Tuesday morning in Brazil. But analysts said that vague praise was unlikely to assure investors.