MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Mercosur is over”

French political scientist and renowned academic Alain Touraine stated that “Mercosur was over” and forecasted that the United States sponsored Free Trade Association of the Americas “is inevitable”.
“To talk about Mercosur doesn't make much sense”, indicated Mr. Touraine in a long interview with the Brazilian newspaper O'Globo.

Mr. Touranie also shocked the world when in 1980 he sentenced that "socialism is dead", and now is making it extensive to Mercosur given Argentina's serious problems, Brazil's delicate situation, and above all Washington's decision to "impose" FTAA to the continent, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.

Mr. Touraine argues that the United States now has everything on its side to go ahead with its proposal of eliminating trade barriers in the Americas by 2005. "There are strong supporters of the idea such as Chile and Ecuador, and Brazil has no chance of resisting such pressure", said Mr. Touraine in reference to the region's second economy and the country which has most opposed the idea of FTAA under US patronage.

"Brazil is in no position to impose conditions, or even negotiate favourable conditions", stressed Mr. Touraine. Regarding Argentina Mr. Touraine insisted on his long standing theory that the current situation is in great part caused by the "Argentines resistance to work". "In Argentina many people don't have a work conduct, a work ethic. People are thinking about leisure, pensions, consuming, and is spite of all it's hard to find people willing for certain jobs".

Mr. Touraine went on to say that something similar, but without a crisis, can be said of Europe, "they make up 10% of the world's economy but they don't help to make much money".

Finally the French political scientist forecasted that globalization after a period of "extreme planetary capitalism", will be dominated by United States "political priorities", a country most concerned "with its military standing and the Middle East".