Latin America: The Guayaquil Consensus

In an effort to discuss possible ways to pull out of the economic turbulence that is currently characterizing Latin America, twelve South American heads of state initiated a series of meetings together in Guayaquil, Ecuador beginning Friday, July 26th. This is the second time leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela have met since their first meeting two years ago, which focused on advancing regional integration. This year, the summit, which was scheduled to last only two days, aimed to consolidate and deepen integration themes, with a heavy focus on the extreme economic fragility the region is facing and possible steps that could be taken to stem the tide.

In his opening remarks, the president of Ecuador, Gustavo Noboa, emphasized that Latin America is in an extremely vulnerable situation, amplified by the overt protectionism that the traditional “developed” trading partners have displayed. According to Noboa, sustainable development is possible, but only through a process of dialogue and consensus that aims to modify policy and reverse adverse market conditions. In an improvised speech, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, president of Brazil, echoed Noboa and strongly criticized the protectionist policies exhibited by developed countries and proposed the need for regional integration in reaction to the overriding free trade discourse, in which the ideas of inclusion and free trade are touted but protectionist policies are maintained.

For his part, Peruvian president, Alejandro Toledo, used the unparalleled crisis in Argentina to present his idea of creating a regional emergency fund that could be used to help reactivate individual economies. While the feasibility of such a fund is questionable, the logic is clear. “In Latin America”, he said, “we look with deep sadness at a sister country, Argentina, and this [malaise] is being reflected in the region. I am here to propose the necessity of a solidarity fund, financed for the defense of democracy and governability in the region”. As President Toledo pointed out, the social unrest in Latin America is the most obvious outgrowth of economic crises, and has become the most apparent element of instability. “Military coups don't come from the barracks anymore. The threat to governability and to democracy emerges from a social unrest that rightly claims to be a participant in the economy and for better life conditions”.

As a testimony to President Toledo's comments, a group of activists representing human rights, environmental, and other social groups protested outside the conference against the Free Trade of the Americas (FTAA) proposal and Plan Colombia, the controversial anti-drug initiative supported by the US in Colombia. Protestors were generally peaceful; however, a small explosive was reportedly activated near a city plaza close to where the participants were to attend an opening ceremony last Saturday. No one was injured, but the explosion sent pamphlets with slogans rejecting globalization flying through the air.

In hindsight, press representatives from various countries complained about the limited access they were given to the delegation's participants at Guayaquil. Aside from discourse offered by the vociferous president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez – who reportedly broke protocol several times by speaking out of turn and was characteristically found chatting up the wait staff until he lost his ride back to the group's hotel – journalists from across the region shared in the frustration of trying to find, at the very least, meaningful sound bites to expand upon. A reporter from Argentina called the closed nature of the conference (referencing the "corralito", or the Argentines' inability to withdraw money from their own bank accounts), a "corralito" of the press.

The final product of the summit, the “Guayaquil Consensus”, includes 34 points that recognize the need to create a “common space” through the physical integration of regional infrastructure. Until now, calls to deepen regional integration, particularly on an economic level, have been mainly aspirations, with a montage of individual national requirements impeding progress. Given the intense economic crisis in Argentina, followed by sharp economic deterioration in Uruguay and the tenuous situation in Brazil, it is clear that significant strides regarding regional integration will most likely continue to be deferred.

Click here to read the text of the Guayaquil Consensus (in Spanish) - Consenso de Guayaquil - Posted 29/07/02

FTAA-ALCA - Official Website

According to its original timeline, FTAA negotiations (known in Spanish as the Area de Libre Comercio de las Américas, or ALCA), are scheduled to be completed by 2005, when it is supposed that full hemispheric free trade – stretching from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego and encompassing roughly 800 million people – is slated to begin.

The Official FTAA-ALCA website contains documents from the process initiated during the 1994 Summit of the Americas to integrate the economies of the Western Hemisphere into a single free trade arrangement. Information by country is readily available and includes all 34 proposed member states, with trade related statistics and unresolved issues provided for each.

The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)

NACLA is an independent non-profit that provides policy makers, analysts, academics, organizers, journalists and religious and community groups with information on major trends in Latin America and its relations with the United States.