Obama finally sent to the Senate today three free trade agreements, two of them for Latin America: Colombia and Panama. The first good thing he has done in a long time, and let's hope that it will become the first good thing Republicans will do in a long time by approving it. Because if you ask me, the GOP House and White House Dem have been lately rather an embarrassment even though the GOP candidates believing in creationism and such shit scare me infinitely more than the wishy-washy White House. Now we will see if serious people can break free of the blackmailing from AFL-CIO cum Tea Partiers and get down to real productive business.
I certainly wish it so even though it is a little bit late for Latin America. Had such an FTA passed a couple of years ago its effects today would be felt on Venezuela as Colombia would depend very little from our trade, isolating even more Chavez than what he already is. The trade deal with Panama two years ago would also have gone some way in weakening a Daniel Ortega who incredibly seems to be about to get reelected in Nicaragua. Still, in a couple of years from now, an "FTA area" of Salvador, Panama, Colombia, Peru and Chile could coalesce into a block strong enough to temper Brazil's ambitions and make Chavez, even if reelected, quite irrelevant. Note that his admission into Mercosur, which will not solve any of his problems possibly aggravating them, is jeopardized by his refusal to abide to international treaties such as the ones on the IACHR, to give an example. The world around Chavez is shrinking as his cancer bloats him.... and yet he does not see it.
Interestingly TeleSur now seems to reproach the US for sending a trade bill more than Colombia for asking for it. If you read spanish enjoy that piece of convoluted reasoning about the FTA whose implications chavismo cannot quite understand but yet sense to be dangerous for their designs. More interestingly, from across the aisle, a piece from the WSJ has a rather negative "feel" if you ask me making a strange convergence between TeleSur and WSJ.......
At any rate, even if late, I do appreciate the timing of the FTA submission as a bunch of idiots are trying to transform Wall Street into some Puerta del Sol....