The FTAA negotiators say this is a kind of "buffet-style" agreement—but there's no meat here. The US didn't get investor-to-state lawsuits; it didn't get new rules on government procurement; it didn't get broader intellectual property rights: The corporate lobbyists are going home hungry.
After nine years of negotiations, the only accomplishment of the Miami Ministerial was that countries agreed to reduce the scope of each of the nine substantive issues. The real story of Miami is that the U.S. was forced, by powerful social movements across the hemisphere, to acquiesce to the fact that there is no way to achieve a comprehensive FTAA by the end of 2004, a goal that has been the centerpiece of the U.S. trade agenda for years
The resistance to the NAFTA model has frustrated the USTR's best-laid plans. The USTR says that, "because all nine boxcars are attached to the FTAA train, it's a success." But the truth is that the boxcars are completely empty. No concrete substance has been agreed upon within the different working groups on issues such as services, agriculture, investment, and intellectual property.
Considering the strong-arm tactics of the U.S. in Miami, this is indeed a victory. High level delegates from various countries reported that U.S. trade negotiators have been threatening and bullying them—'threatening to stop 'aid' and enticing them with special bilateral agreements' during the Ministerial in order to avoid a repeat of the failed WTO Ministerial in Cancun. In fact, the US announced its intent to negotiate free trade agreements with four of the five Andean nations (Ecuador,Bolivia, Peru, Colombia) in a special attempt to isolate Venezuela, the country that has been the most staunch opponent of the proposed FTAA at the negotiating table.
And with so much of the complex negotiations put off until the next Trade Negotiations Committee meeting, the bloodbath has just been postponed. Rather than moving on track towards success, it looks more like a train wreck ahead. This certainly must be counted a victory for workers, poor communities, and the environment of the Western Hemisphere.
After nine years of negotiations and very little accomplished, social movements have even more opportunity to achieve our goal of completely derailing the proposed FTAA agenda.
But it's not a perfect victory. This agreement, like so many earlier "free trade" agreements, fails to offer basic protections for workers and the environment.
This agreement contains a new risk: with some of the most disturbing elements removed, "FTAA-Lite" may pass as a wolf in sheep's clothing. But we won't be fooled. We will remain vigilant. We will continue to monitor the talks in Puebla, Mexico. And we will do everything we can to work with our partners across the Americas to ensure that the FTAA never becomes law.