Trade and Democracy Dominate Quebec City Summit Agenda

  
Topics such as education, poverty and discrimination are on the table for discussion by the 34 heads of state of the Americas in Quebec City on April 20-22. But two issues in particular-democracy and economic integration-have awakened the most expectations at this third Summit of the Americas.

Despite the efforts made at the Miami and Santiago Summits to forge a collective commitment and deepened hemispheric cooperation in these areas, progress has been slow in coming. Accordingly, the president of the OAS Office of Summit Follow-Up has emphasized that one of the objectives of this Summit "should be to advance the elaboration of a coherent process that combines the lessons learned from experience with careful evaluation of current trends and situations to produce informed, future-oriented decisions."

Although the democratic transition in the hemisphere is nearly complete, certain incidents have raised questions about the future of democracy in the region. Recent examples are the bitter ethnic and economic conflicts taking shape in Ecuador, the crisis following the fall of Fujimori in Peru, the ongoing violence in Colombia and the growing militarization of the executive branch in Venezuela, as well as the social crisis caused by unemployment and recession in Central America.

All of these countries have signed commitments to defend democracy, among them the Santiago Accord of 1991 and OAS Resolution 1080. Continued violation of these agreements reveals the cynicism of many leaders with regard to international accords as well as pressure from multilateral organizations. According to Luis Lauredo, the US ambassador to the OAS and coordinator of the Summit of the Americas, "the continued threats to democracy have increased the consensus that the OAS should play a more active and efficient role in its defense."

The Summit will also address the formation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Among the issues to be resolved are the date for its implementation as well as regional concerns expressed by countries such as Brazil and Venezuela. Recently, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez told El Nacional newspaper that Latin America should pursue regional integration efforts before considering the FTAA, which is perceived as a United States project. "We can't think about the FTAA without first strengthening MERCOSUR and the Andean Community," Chávez was quoted as saying. "Otherwise, we will be moving toward regional disintegration." In expressing his opposition to accelerating the FTAA process, Chávez noted, "we have to make the United States see that, by speeding up the integration process, we will be endangering political stability and peace in this part of the world. We are not against the US or the FTAA; we are merely trying to ensure the sustainability of the process," he claimed.

Brazil too has expressed concern at US domination of the FTAA process. According to Time magazine, "at heart, there is a feeling of frustration and a perception that the free trade movement is running up against a wall of regional interests and worries, symbolized by the growing distance between the two big pacts: NAFTA and MERCOSUR."

Given these concerns, the hemisphere's ministers of foreign relations have prepared a Summit Plan of Action that brings together issues in three major groupings: strengthening democracy, creating prosperity and realizing human capital. But the talks in Quebec will have to go beyond a show of solidarity and political declarations to satisfy the diversity of regional interests and growing concerns over the state of democracy in the Americas. Marc Lortie, the Canadian Summit coordinator, has stated that "our principal achievement will be the energetic reaffirmation of the hemisphere's collective will." The trick will be figuring out how to turn this will into concrete actions after the Summit.