MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

President Bush rewards allies.

An optimistic United States Ambassador in Chile said that the Bush administration was waiting for the most appropriate political moment to send to Congress the US-Chile free trade agreement.

Mr. William Brownfield remarks follow the signing last Tuesday in the White House with great ostentation, of a similar agreement with Singapore, that was a staunch ally of the United States coalition that toppled the Iraqi regime.

Ambassador Brownfield denied in Santiago that the signing of the agreement with Chile had been postponed, since "you can't postpone what never had a scheduled date". However he admitted that Chile's stance in the United Nations Security Council contrary to Washington's position in Iraq effectively "had indirect consequences" in Congress, particularly since the total number of US legislators is 535.

Last Tuesday President Bush and Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong signed the agreement, while Chile will have to wait in spite of the fact of having finalized the document several months before the Asian country.

The official White House excuse was that the translation of the legal terminology into Spanish and English takes longer. Days before US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick confirmed US disenchantment with the Chilean attitude saying that "Americans feel disappointed" with Chilean opposition to the coalition's military actions in Iraq.

However Chile's main trade negotiator and one of the architects of the free trade agreement with the US, Ambassador Osvaldo Rosales said that in fifteen days time no further technical legalities should impede the signing. "Both texts in English and Spanish have been finished satisfactorily and the implementation bill to be sent to the US Congress is progressing".

Mr. Rosales also pointed out that a majority of Congress members, the media and the business community support the agreement and several trade chambers addressed a letter to President Bush requesting a quick response to the issue.

Nevertheless analysts believe that although the post-Iraq impasse with Chile can be considered over, it has yet to be seen the importance that the Bush administration will grant to the occasion, taking into account the extraordinary projection given to the ceremony with Singapore a staunch ally of the coalition.

"This is how a country that supported the US war on Iraq is rewarded: trade agreements advance at great speed", was how The Washington Post summarized the situation.

Addressing Primer Minister Goh Chok Tong in the White House, President Bush said that "your nation has proved to be a strong and vital ally in the fight against global terrorism".

Singapore's head of government replied that "since Second World War no other country has played such an important role in Southeast Asia as has the United States".