MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bush pushes for free trade in OAS

U.S. President George W.Bush told the 35th OAS General Assembly underway on Monday that the future peace and prosperity of the Americas would come through free trade.

"In the new Americas of the 21st century, one of the surest ways to make opportunity real for all our citizens is by opening our doors to trade. ... The United States Congress is now considering the Central American and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, which offers an historic opportunity to bring prosperity to the citizens of our hemisphere who have not known it," Bush said.

"An Americas where all our people live in prosperity will be more peaceful. And an Americas whose countries have reduced the barriers to trade among ourselves will be a more competitive region in a global economy," the president asserted to the Organization of American States' representatives assembled here.

"In the new Americas of the 21st century, bringing a better life to our people requires choosing between two competing visions. One offers a vision of hope, it is founded on representative government, integration into the world markets, and a faith in the transformative power of freedom in individual lives," Bush said.

"The other seeks to roll back the democratic progress of the past two decades by playing to fear, pitting neighbor against neighbor, and blaming others for their own failures to provide for their people. ... We must make tough decisions today to ensure a better tomorrow," he continued.

Shortly before Bush spoke, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim had remarked before the same gathering that for democracy to fully flourish among the poorest countries, a "favorable international environment" is needed. "In the trade area, above all it's necessary to eliminate the millions of dollars of subsidies given to inefficient producers in developed countries," he stated. Brazil is one of the developing countries that for some time has demanded the end to such subsidies, mainly in the agricultural area.

Bush focused mainly in his address on touting the virtues of free trade, but he also referred to Havana, emphasizing that all the nations of the Western Hemisphere - with the exception of Cuba, which was expelled from the OAS in 1962 - currently have democratic governments.

"Only one country in this hemisphere sits outside this society of democratic nations, and one day the tide of freedom will reach Cuba's shores, as well," Bush said, emphasizing to the delegates from the 34-member OAS that "the United States shares a commitment with you to build an Americas that lives in liberty, trades in freedom, and grows in prosperity." Regarding Cuba, Amorim invited the OAS to establish "constructive cooperation" with the communist island. "Constructive cooperation, even when there is a difference of perception, sometimes profound differences, is the best road to assure that the objectives of the OAS Charter are fully realized," said the Brazilian minister.

The U.S. president emphasized the importance of strengthening commercial ties throughout the hemisphere, specifically mentioning the Free Trade Area of the Americas for which Washington is pushing, as well as the bilateral free trade agreements with individual countries like Chile and Mexico and Canada, and the so-called CAFTA-DR pact with Central America and the Dominican Republic.

With regard to the pending accord, Bush said that "CAFTA would continue to advance the stability and security that come from freedom. An Americas linked by trade is less likely to be divided by resentment and false ideologies."

"CAFTA is more than just a trade agreement. It is a signal of the U.S. commitment to democracy and prosperity for our neighbors, and I urge the United States Congress to pass it," Bush said to the OAS delegates' applause. The agreement has already been ratified by the congresses of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, but it is presently facing difficulties in the U.S. Congress.

"By passing CAFTA, the United States would open up a market of 44 million consumers for our farmers and small business people. CAFTA will replace a system that is often arbitrary with one that is fair and transparent and based on common rules," the president asserted.

The 35th OAS General Assembly is the first meeting of the hemispheric body to be held in the United States in a quarter century. The conference, which began on Sunday, will run through Tuesday.