26 April - 2 May 2001
Issue No.531
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 26 April - 2 May 2001 Issue No.531 |
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Free trade with a conscience?
US President George Bush emerged as the main winner after the Americas Summit, writes Marc Munro, from Quebec City
Diplomatic wrangling over trade barriers and the din of protests yelled from street barricades have become the regular double feature in the pantomime surrounding globalisation conferences. On 21 April, when the 34 leaders of the Organisation of American States (OAS) arrived in Quebec City to sing the virtues of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), there was little doubt activists would try to sour the mood. Taking their cue from Quebec's history as a fortress, police ringed the old city with a four-kilometre concrete and chain barrier. Behind this redoubt, 6000 riot police waited, armed with massive supplies of tear gas.
An anti-globalisation activist is arrested at the Summit of the Americas protest in Quebec City, Canada. The first two days of the summit were rocked by protests staged by free-trade opponents (photo: AFP)
Their opponents had plenty of battle experience. In November 1999, anti-globalisation protesters ambushed the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting in Seattle. Seemingly out of nowhere, 50,000 angry demonstrators held their own "meeting," demanding a voice in the future. In April 2000, this burlesque was repeated in Washington for the World Bank and again in June for the OAS conference in Windsor. Then, anti-trade activists warned the delegates that they would try to sabotage the FTAA. Since then both sides have been readying themselves for battle.
Before the summit, the pitched battles to come were well foreshadowed. Police arrested six urban guerrillas who were carrying enough explosives to breach the perimeter fence. As it turned out, the pyrotechnics were not needed. The massed weight of 30,000 protesters on the march was more than enough to breach the fortifications, dubbed the 'wall of shame.'
Stone, brick and hockey stick: all were hurled at the phalanxes of nervous riot police. The authorities replied with tear gas, and the acrid cloud formed floated over the battleground for two days; a wispy reminder of the previous days' carnage. In total over 80 were injured and 392 were arrested.
Far from the fray, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien commented, "Violence and provocation are unacceptable in a democracy," but acknowledged that the majority, although peaceful, had "come to Quebec to express legitimate concerns." Mexican President Vicente Fox was less patient, sarcastically saying "It's easy to demonstrate when you have a job and good food on your table." But of the 800 million in the Americas, 78 million live on a dollar a day.
As the conference went on, the global leaders began to moderately distance themselves from the unabashed trumpeting of free trade. According to Chrétien, "The creation of a free trade area is not an end in itself. We have a global action plan to reduce poverty, protect the environment, promote the adoption of labour standards and encourage corporate responsibility." The key to this vision is the so-called Democracy Clause, which "automatically excludes" nations that abandon the OAS principles of good government. According to US President George Bush, "Our goal in Quebec is to build a hemisphere of liberty."
OAS members have followed that principle to an extent. In 1990, the OAS established procedures for reacting to "threats to democracy." It intervened in Haiti (1991), Peru (1992), Guatemala (1993), Paraguay (1996) and Peru again (2000). But Cuba was banished from the OAS in 1962, and will not be readmitted until the Castro regime initiates democratic reforms. This isolation of Cuba betrays continued US dominance of the organisation. Interventions for democracy often seem narrowly to follow US interests.
President Fernando Cardoso of Brazil, a former Marxist intellectual, was cautious in his praise of the globalising trend. The FTAA, he said, "is welcome if it is a step toward providing access to more dynamic markets; if it indeed leads to common anti-dumping rules; if it reduces non-tariff barriers; if it prevents protectionist distortion; and if it goes beyond the Uruguay Round to redress the inequalities resulting from those negotiations. Otherwise it would be irrelevant or worse, undesirable."
One person was happy after Quebec: US President George Bush. On Sunday, the presidents of Canada and Mexico agreed to meet energy shortfalls in the oil-starved US economy. The three leaders joined hands for reporters to hail their common purpose. As they celebrated, the residents of Quebec stooped to clean the debris littering the streets after the protests. A few environmental protesters with consciences stopped to help them.
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