South Americans See Trade as Subregional Priority

  
An Argentine political scientist predicts that if elected president, George W. Bush will pursue the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) through bilateral agreements, effectively shutting out Mercosur's negotiating power. In an interview with the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de São Paulo, Rosendo Fraga noted that a Republican president would have a much greater chance of winning fast-track authorization from the Republican-controlled Congress. He joined with other regional analysts and officials in urging the countries of South America to overcome the obstacles preventing them from cementing their integration and expanding Mercosur.

The August 27 article quotes Bolivia's ambassador to Brazil, Fernando Salazar Paredes, as saying that individual countries must be prepared to sacrifice a portion of their sovereignty for the benefits of forming a common bloc "capable of competing on an equal footing with other, more developed blocs." Former Argentine President Raúl Alfonsín described this goal as the logic behind the formation of Mercosur. "We must grow further and develop value-added products that are priced competitively if we want to enter the big markets," he argued.

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