Brazilians Vote No on FTAA

 
The organizers of Brazil's anti-FTAA "plebiscite" predicted 10 million votes, and they got them. On September 17, they celebrated the results with marches and a rally in the capitol city, Brasília. As could be expected, the results were overwhelming. The turnout was 10,149,542 people at 41,758 polling places in 3,894 cities throughout the country. An overwhelming 98.33% voted that Brazil shouldn't sign the FTAA and 95.94% said it should leave the negotiations. In addition, 98.59% of voters answered no to the third question - whether Brazil should deliver control over the launch base in Alcántara, in the northeastern state of Maranhão, to the United States. Participation in the plebiscite surpassed the four million people who voted two years ago in a similar referendum on Brazil's foreign debt. The results were presented to the president, Congress and the US ambassador the very next day. The organizers now want Congress to hold a nationwide referendum on the question.

The vote was a forgone conclusion. It is not the results, but the level and extent of the involvement of civic, and especially religious, institutions that makes this a strong indication of the complexity of selling free trade in the Americas. Sovereignty and not free trade is still considered the real issue by the great majority of Latin Americans. Although it is a fact that no one can escape, US hegemony seems to be the reason that rejectionists continue to gain ground in the fair trade vs free trade debates.

In Brazil, the closing act of the plebiscite was planned to coincide with the 8th annual "Cry of the Dispossessed" on Independence Day (September 7) at the national shrine, the Basilica of Our Lady of "Aparecida" in the state of São Paulo. About 150,000 Brazilians mobilized by 60 organizations came together under the banner of "Don't Negotiate our Sovereignty." Significantly, both the Catholic National Council of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB) and the Protestant National Council of Churches (CONIC), were key conveners. The clergy responsible for the church's social ministries cast their votes against the FTAA during the ceremony. Monsignor Jacyr Francisco Braido explained that the church was alerting future Brazilian leaders about the dangers of the FTAA.

The government of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso has said it is willing to join the FTAA, as long as the United States allows duty-free entry for Brazilian goods that are now subject to tariffs and quotas. The governing party's presidential candidate, José Serra, pledges that if elected he will not agree to join the FTAA if it is disadvantageous for Brazil. However, Mr. Serra, who polls show is now in second place for the October 6 election, says he believes that the trade agreement could be good for the country. For his part, presidential front-runner Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva of the leftist Workers Party says the FTAA as now contemplated would be bad for Brazil. Mr. da Silva has told reporters that the free trade accord is an instrument of annexation that would only favor the interests of the United States.

The type of public mobilization and support of major civic organizations in Brazil will be hard to duplicate anywhere else, but it will promote "copy cats." Already Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president, has promised a national plebiscite on the FTAA in 2003. The enthusiasm of the tens of thousands of volunteers who carried out the effort in Brazil clearly had to do with the national presidential elections that are less than a month away. Still, this is going to be an issue that will continue to strain relations between Brazil and the United States in the coming year, when both are co-presidents of the FTAA negotiating process.