Bloomberg reports on the meeting today in New Orleans among the leaders of the US, Canada, and Mexico. George W. Bush, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa and Stephen Harper will defend free trade and $930 billion in commerce between the three nations they represent against political detractors. All three heads of state have made free trade an important element in their agendas.
The Alliance for Democracy called for support in opposing the SPP. The organization called on constituents to contact their representatives, stating that “Our concerns include the opaque and undemocratic nature of the [proposed policy], its definition of ‘prosperity’ as the expansion of a failed trade model, and its definition of ‘security’ as the expansion of military force and the restricting of civil liberties.”
Greg Palast blogs on the secrecy surrounding the convention and comments on the real meaning of the “harmonization” of policies on the agenda. "Take for example, pesticides. Wal-Mart and agri-business don’t want to reduce the legal amount of poison allowed in what you eat. Solution: 'harmonize' US and Canadian pesticide standards to Mexico’s. Can they do that? Can Bush just say, 'Eat your peas – even if they’re radioactive'? Under NAFTA, at least the way George Bush reads it (or has it read to him), he can."
Americans for Legal Immigration has posted their own take on the proceedings.
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