MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US trade agreement with Chile conditioned.

A strong appeal to ratify the United States free trade agreement with Chile was made by US Representative Judy Biggert. The Republican Congresswoman who is the main lobbyist for the US-Chile agreement said that politics and trade should not be mixed, and asked her colleagues that when voting “keep in mind the benefits this will represent for both countries”.

Ms. Biggert also emphasized that a vote must be taken during this session so as not to contaminate the 2004 Congressional elections.

Resistance to the agreement erupted in the US Congress following Chile's position in the United Nations Security Council, contrary to military intervention in Iraq.

However last week US Secretary of State indicated that the "deception" caused by Chile's attitude belonged to the past.

In spite of the opposition of some Congressmen, Ms. Biggert is optimistic since "the perception in Congress has varied, and if Chile supports United States in other areas in the Security Council, we will be able to accept what happened".

"We can't wait for everybody to agree in Congress but the majority of those of us who are in favor of promoting trade share this view, politics must not be involved in this particular issue".

Once president George Bush formally signs the agreement, US Congress has sixty days to consider the issue.

In a recent editorial "The Washington Post" criticized the Bush administration stance describing it as "senseless" and "ill intentioned", adding that US officials have given to understand that "Chile a democracy, and a rare success case in a region with problems will have to suffer a delay in the signing of the agreement".

The Washington Post continues saying that "this ill intentioned vengeance will only worsen the United State image in the world".

"As many of its neighbors, including regional powers Argentina and Brazil are struggling to make open market economies work and debate if closer ties with the United States make sense, the trade agreement with Chile offers the Bush administration the possibility of showing that these strategies have a reward".

"If this staunch hemispheric citizen (Chile) is to be punished for not having followed the way indicated by the United States, the world will have learnt the lesson, but it will not be the correct lesson", concludes the influential Washington daily.