The "Authoritarian" Nature of the FTAA Negotiations

  
In a recent syndicated column, well-known television news journalist Jorge Ramos calls the lack of civil society access in the FTAA negotiations "sad and pathetic." Ramos, who co-anchors Univisión's national evening news broadcast and is the author of several books about Latin America and its leaders, criticizes the negotiations for failing to include labor and environmental protections and provisions for immigrants and the poor. Most of all, he condemns the "authoritarian" attitude of the leaders who endorsed the FTAA at the Quebec City Summit: "If the Summit of the Americas was meant to be a celebration of democracy-and that has been the justification for excluding Fidel Castro from the process-it was a complete contradiction for the 34 presidents and heads of state to barricade themselves behind locked doors in a city under siege and hand down authoritarian decisions," he points out. Until civil society enjoys greater access to the negotiations, Ramos notes, "protesters will continue to disrupt high-level international meetings and score more victories in the public relations war."

See "¿Quién ganó la cumbre?" www.jorgeramos.com/articulos/art_index.htm