CONTINENTAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE FTAA STATEMENT ON THE NEGOTIATIONS IN PUEBLA "A WOLF IN SHEEP`S CLOTHING IS STILL A WOLF" The FTAA negotiations in Puebla began with an apparent alignment of the different negotiating positions with the United States (speaking through the so- called Group of 5 - - United States, Canada, México, Costa Rica and Chile) ceding to a model that everyone can sign onto to, with the obvious exception of Cuba. This first Tier of negotiations is becoming known as an FTAA Extra Light. The U.S. will maintain its ambitious vision of a comprehensive FTAA, a NAFTA plus model, in the second Tier of FTAA negotiations, which will be optional. But has there really been a profound change? No, the only difference is in the format. The US maintains its original agenda, only know they have accepted that they won't be able to reach their goals in one shot as originally planned. They hope to leave Puebla with an agreement in principle on the first Tier of the FTAA. After that, it won't be long before countries are pressured into entering more comprehensive negotiations in the so-called Tier 2 of the FTAA. Of course they will try to isolate the governments that refuse to negotiate at this comprehensive level, and they will bring to bear economic and political pressure on these countries until they agree to participate in Tier 2. The peoples of the Americas won't fall for these schemes. We continue to say NO to the FTAA, no matter whether it is Light, Extra Light or Comprehensive. We call on our government to not commit us to the FTAA even if it is FTAA Extra Light for the following reasons 1) They are promoting FTAA Extra Light so that the FTAA train leaves with all the boxcars (countries and themes) firmly connected to the imperial caboose, then later they will fill up the empty boxes with the full content of each theme. Once governments have signed on to the FTAA, they can deepen the negotiations once public attention wanes. In many countries these deeper negotiations won't even require any parliamentary approval to be ratified. This is even more dangerous and anti-democratic, and the people will simply not accept it. 2) In each of the options being debated here in Puebla, the basic neo- liberal model that has generated poverty, inequality and the lack of an authentic, just, and sustainable development in our countries remains intact. 3) The separation of the FTAA into two tiers and the eventual withdrawal of MERCOSUR, Venezuela and Bolivia from the Second Tier will leave the smaller economy countries in a weaker negotiating position, and will leave the United States and Canada without any serious opposition. 4) This trap will have gigantic consequences. Some governments are ready to refuse entry into Tier Two, in order to exclude the US and Canada from deep concessions that they would give to countries with similar development levels in bilateral agreements. Nevertheless, the US probably has the intention to use the WTO to demand Most Favoured Nation Treatment from these countries once the FTAA is signed and ratified. 5) Moreover we affirm that even the Extra Light proposal has unacceptable aspects. a) The proposal does not resolve the unequal trade that subsidies create, internal supports and the other measures equivalent to subsidies especially related to agriculture. (This could be a point that polarizes the contradictions and returns the negotiations to an impasse). b) The proposal calls for market opening to be universal. They continue to reject the possibility of excluding agricultural products, thus abandoning the possibility of food sovereignty and food security. Farmers and campesinos continue to be sacrificed. c) The G5 proposal includes in the first tier rules that would limit the capacity of nation-states to direct national development projects and to make their own public policies (e.g., the rules on competition policy). d) The proposal continues to make the opening of US markets to goods conditional on commitments in the other negotiating areas. e) The proposal continues to include services, and thus the risk that our human rights will be subject to the rules of market and that only those who can pay will have access to services. We call on our governments to reject the FTAA no matter the shape and form and not to betray the people of the Americas. We will continue to fight to stop the FTAA.