EFE News [Spain]
November 1, 2001
By Carlos Rojas Lindsay

MIAMI -- Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria said Thursday that a future Free-Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is the best weapon against the economic downturn in the United States and Latin America.

Gaviria addressed a forum of more than 200 U.S. and Latin American business leaders organized by the Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce in Miami.

According to Gaviria, the economic downturn confronting the United States and the rest of the countries in the hemisphere is one of U.S. President George W. Bush's top priorities, aside from his primary concern -- resolving the international crisis brought on by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In this context, the FTAA plays a "significant role," Gaviria said, emphasizing that Bush and the leaders of the other 33 OAS member countries have the determination and political will to implement a free-trade area.

Gaviria said he was confident Congress would give Bush fast track authority -- allowing the administration to negotiate international trade agreements and submit them to the legislature, which can only pass or reject them without making modifications -- despite the fact that lawmakers have not granted the authority since 1994.

According to Gaviria, the FTAA is the best option at the moment, since it can be approved in a short period of time, while crafting a new agreement would take more than three years.

Gaviria, a former Colombian president, stressed that the creation on Jan. 1, 2005 of the FTAA -- a market of more than 800 million people generating trillions of dollars in output -- will radically change the region's economic activities and open new windows of opportunity for the entire hemisphere.

"The approval of fast track authority will give guarantees to Latin America and the Caribbean and bring benefits to the United States," Gaviria said.

Responding to a question from one businessman, Gaviria said that while there would be both losers and winners within the framework of the more competitive environment of a free-trade area, the FTAA would benefit both wealthy and developing countries.

Gaviria cited the case of Mexico, which signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) amidst a wave of criticism from Latin America, but tripled its exports to the United States within the first three years of the pact.

Latin America's regional trading blocs and the Caribbean nations are willing to negotiate, Gaviria said, because they view the FTAA as the best option, without discarding other multilateral agreements, such as Mercosur.

Gaviria said that the FTAA is framed within a much larger process of integration whose greatest objective is democracy.