Deeply indebted to the north, the World Bank and IMF coerce Latin American governments to privatize state-owned enterprises, reduce government expenditures, and open borders for “free trade�. This “neoliberal� model is forced on the region’s populations by multilateral institutions, which the U.S. dominates, like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB). Additionally, neoliberalism is being promoted globally through the World Trade Organization and in the Americas with agreements such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Complementing these “free trade� agreements in Latin America are a package of massive industrial regional infrastructure projects such as the Plan Puebla Panama (PPP) covering the region from Mexico to Panama and the Integration of Infrastructure in the Region of South America (IIRSA) spanning from Colombia to Argentina.

The package of free trade projects proposed for the region, such as the FTAA, CAFTA, PPP and IIRSA are not spreading “freedom� nor “developing� the region as its champions would have it. Rather, these projects are widening the gap between rich and poor and ruthlessly exploiting workers, indigenous peoples, and women and destroying the environment. Growing disenchantment with the failures of this “free trade� model is widely documented even by its champions such as the IDB who begins their diagnosis of the region stating that 62% of all Latin Americans say that neoliberalism has worsened their economic situation; 72% say that privatization has not been a good idea; and 70% say that the state should maintain control of education, health care, water and electricity services.

The FTAA and CAFTA create the regulatory and legal framework for the acceleration of corporate-led globalization in Latin America by guaranteeing multinational corporations control of the regions abundant cheap labor forces, state owned services such as heath care and electricity and vast natural resources such as oil, gas, minerals, forest products, genetic material and commercial agriculture. Combined, the infrastructure megaprojects of the PPP and IIRSA, spanning from Mexico to Argentina, further entice corporate exploitation of the region providing investors with the infrastructure that they demand. Together the FTAA, CAFTA, PPP and IIRSA are pushing to create a singular Latin American free trade zone responding to the wishes of global capital and multinational corporations while failing to respond to the majority of peoples’ needs. As a result people are leaving their communities and immigrating to cities and to the United States in search of economic survival, only to face repression and economic hardship there.

Corporate Globalization: Many Acronyms, One Project

If the FTAA, CAFTA and the PPP have their way they will:

Deny countries the right to protect vital local industry, selling essential services such as health care and education, and natural resources such as water and electricity to Transnational Corporations.

Displace thousands of rural and indigenous peoples with massive industrial development projects including hydroelectric dams, mining, oil drilling, commercial agriculture and forestry. Pushing the rural work forces into assembly plant production in already overpopulated urban slums or to migrate to the Untied States.

Deny countries the right to regulate speculative investments-leaving national economies open to the wishes of a few transnational financial corporations.

Give corporations the right to privatize biodiversity and patent and exploit genetic resources and traditional knowledge found mostly in indigenous communities.

Deny governments the right to reject genetically modified crops.

Create and privatize a regional energy market controlled by transnational corporations.

Brendan O'Neill
February 26, 2003
ACERCA campaigner for Action for Social and Ecological Justice (ASEJ)
brendan (at) asej.org
802-863-0571
Fax: 802-864-8203
PO Box 57
Burlington, VT 05402