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MERCOSUR Civil Society Takes Stock After Chile Opts for NAFTA On November 27-29, 2000 the Brazilian Network of the Hemispheric Social Alliance (A Rede Brasileira Para a Integra��o dos Povos) held a high level seminar in S�o Paulo. Dozens of Brazil's top academic, political and governmental leaders discussed the future of the FTAA with many of the region's social actors. Participants came mostly from Brazil, but high-level participants from neighboring countries as well as Mexico and Canada also attended. The general tone of the discussions was critical of the FTAA, but recognized the inevitability of this phenomenon. The general feeling was that social and civil society organizations are not well prepared to digest the effects of the complicated trade negotiations. This increases their anxiety about the outcomes (and, as we have mentioned before on these pages, their resistance). Some of the papers presented and the program are available at http://www.alternex.com.br/~fnl/alca/ Current and previous Chilean governments have supported similar high-level workshops. At the moment that President Ricardo Lagos of Chile was making his announcement in favor of joining NAFTA, social and civil society organizations were meeting in Santiago as part of the government-sponsored "Consulta Cidadana" on joining MERCOSUR. The representatives, from unions, civil society and faith-based organizations, had to make a quick assessment of the action and expressed their concerns in a declaration. These recent events underscore the level of commitment that exists to making subregional development work. Somehow, despite the failures or at least the lack of performance of subregional efforts, they continue to appeal to local populations as a way to counterbalance the effects of globalization. This faith in the building block approach can be seen in recent declarations on Mercosur.com by Pablo Schneider, president of the Central American Bank for Integration. "The MERCOSUR and the Central American Common Market Blocks are efforts that will permit us to confront the challenges planted by the consolidation of the FTAA, which we hope will come about in the short run," Schneider wrote. Even more remarkable is the continued excitement of the Andean Common Market and its social and union organizations for integration into MERCOSUR. Some of their declarations reflect the hope that MERCOSUR can lift them out of their pact's lethargy. Many subregional civil society groups are slated to meet in Florian�polis. The Second Trade Union Summit of MERCOSUR will bring together 700 union leaders from across the hemisphere as well as representatives from many NGOs and civil society organizations. Of course, these meetings were scheduled at this time and place to coincide with the Summit of MERCOSUR Presidents. But, the program itself, along with the previous conferences and workshops, shows the extraordinary amount of civil society involvement and interest that provides a strong underpinning to the integration process in this region. This enthusiasm overflows into other regions, especially the Andean Community. Because of this intense involvement, there is a stronger sense of loss and deception among the social actors as they evaluate Chile's decision to negotiate directly with the US. Since its very inception, MERCOSUR has been perfecting instruments to encourage the involvement of civil society and especially the union movements of its members. This has produced greater unity of purpose among ideologically diverse union segments as well as unheard-of cooperation between unions and NGOs. This process culminated in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 1996, when the Labor Forum that paralleled the Trade Ministerial launched what was to become the Hemispheric Social Alliance. The Chilean Alliance for Just and Responsible Commerce, one of the networks that make up the Hemispheric Social Alliance, has cited some of the many instances of civil society cooperation that have been developed under MERCOSUR. These include the "sub-grupos" or working groups that incorporated business and labor in their exploration of the sectorial and technical themes of the integration effort. The labor sub-group resulted in the development of the "Declaraci�n Socio-Laboral," a social clause-type of document that has its own mechanisms to encourage enforcement. The expansion of the official Economic and Social Consultative Forum has also been a sign of the growth of civil society input to the process. The concern of Chilean civil society groups is that Chile, by turning its back on MERCOSUR, is also turning its back on transparency and participation. Chile's announcement should come as no surprise. The USTR Statement of November 30 reminded us that the US began to lay the groundwork for an agreement with Chile in April 1998, during the last Summit of the Americas. Here Clinton called Chile "the fourth 'amigo'" in the NAFTA triumvirate. It was well known then that MERCOSUR was Chile's second choice. Even now, however, it appears that Chile wants to keep one foot in MERCOSUR. The director general of international economic affairs at Chile's Foreign Ministry, Osvaldo Rosales, has stated that Chile will go to Florian�polis to defend its position of continuing to work with MERCOSUR, despite its attempt to sign an FTA with the US. In the meanwhile, a prestigious Brazilian political scientist considers that Brazil should work with MERCOSUR to rapidly bring Venezuela into the customs union. This would provide a counterweight to US desires to checkmate Brazil's attempts to slow down the FTAA process. Thus, while civil society fumes at the current developments, the full picture will become clearer in the next months. At this point, the ability of the United States to divide and conquer seems to be succeeding. Many groups consider this a detriment to the cause of a people-based integration of our hemisphere.
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