here's some real news on the trade front...dunno how much the crowd in here is actually interested in such things!

AND WHERE ARE THE NEWS? :huh:

Chavez, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and other leaders issued a summit declaration calling on the United States and Europe to drop agricultural subsidies to level the free trade playing field.

 

The group, which actually includes 19 countries, represents 2.2 billion people in Asia, Africa and Latin America. It called for an international fund similar to the International Monetary Fund that would be devoted exclusively to reducing poverty.

 

And they demanded foreign debt relief.

 

``We've paid it twice, and this debt is still there,'' Chavez said. ``The debt will never be paid ... and in Venezuela we've made our debt payments religiously.''

 

He said billions of dollars Latin America spends servicing foreign debt could be better spent assisting the region's millions of poor.

 

To strengthen the G-15, Venezuela, Iran and other energy-producing nations pledged to share technologies and use oil to help fellow states' development.

 

Venezuela and India agreed to provide $120 million to launch a Bank of the South, which will help Third World nations finance growth, said Tarek William Saab, who heads Venezuela's congressional foreign affairs committee. India is providing $100 million, the bulk of the startup aid, the state news agency Venpres said.

 

Leaders also pledged to create regional universities; share information and Internet technologies; and create alternatives to international news media ``that negatively affect developing countries.''

 

Most G-15 leaders didn't attend the two-day summit, and Khatami called on heads of state from all 19 member nations to make next year's summit in Algeria to fortify the organization.

 

Formed in 1989, the group includes Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

 

The group's influence and work have waned in recent years, and a summit was canceled last year because of unrest in Caracas.

 

The Organization of American States, the European Union and the U.S.-based Carter Center have urged Venezuela to ignore technical glitches in favor of voters' apparent intent to hold a vote on Chavez's presidency.

 

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva left the summit early, but not before his ministers made clear that Brazil fully backed the OAS and Carter Center's efforts to ensure a transparent elections process.

 

On Saturday, Argentina's Kirchner met with Venezuelan opposition leaders and urged both sides to pledge to respect democratic norms.

 

``The worst that can happen is the spilling of blood and repression. This is the worst that can happen, and we say it because Argentina has a master's degree in these matters,'' Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa said, referring to Argentina's past record of dictatorships.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Venezuela-Summit.html

it's here! :D

 

quite impatient, carla! :P

SORRY! :D

 

UH! THAT NEWS IS STRANGE! WE HAVE A TOTTALLY DIFFERENT VERSION HERE! :D

oh really? what does your version say? i'm interested!

WELL OUR PRESIDENT DOESN'T SAY, AS CHAVEZ DOES, THAT WE WON'T PAY THE DEBT UNDEFINITELY AND PEOPLE COMPLAIN THAT THEY IN A WAY CAN NOT COMPETE AGAINST THE EUROPEAN FARMS (MORE THAN THE AMERICANS) BUT THE GOVERMENT POSSITION IS THAT WE CAN IN FACT, AND THE 'COMMERCE TRADES' 8LIKE THE ONE SIGNED WITH THE USA AND KOREA) PROVE, AND WILL HELP, TO DO THAT :D

yes...since your president signed those agreements, he will be positive about them :-)

 

Chavez didn't say he won't pay back debt, he just said poor countries should not have to re-pay everything, or something like that. :D

 

so us in America can expect lots of 'made in Chile' items pretty soon now! :)

BUH! ENGLISH PROBLEM THERE! CORRECTION = HESAY WE WON'T BE PAYING UNDEFINETELY, IT MEANS, SOMEDAY OUR DEBTS WILL BE OVER (OR HE HOPES SO)

 

WELL YOU CAN EXPECT MORE FRUIT :D UNLESS THE USA BOYCOT US AGAIN :dozey:

oh really....chilean grapes we already get here! :-)

YEAH! BUT THAT WAS SO, NOT MEAN, BUT SO UNETHICAL FROM YOUR COUNTRY! IT'S LIKE WE LOST MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS! :angry: AH! ALSO EXPECT WINE! WELL BRITS WILL HAVE CHILEAN WINE FOREVER NOW! :D

what? why did America block Chilean exports? i don't know about this story :/ :confused:

 

and yep, I've tried only one Chilean red wine, but i loved it! and it's cheap, comaratively, but very good! :D

CHILE WAS EXPORTING TOO MUCH FRUIT, ACCORDING TO USA FRUTTERS. AND ON TOP OF ALL THE EXPORT, IT WAS THE GRAPES. TO EXPORT SOMETHING TO THE USA, YOU MUST PASS A CHECK OUT HERE AND CHEK IN THERE. CHILE WAS EXPORTING MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF BOXES AND THEY LEFT THE COUNTRY THEY CHECKED THEM THERE AND THEY CAUGHT ONE GRAPE WHO SHOWED A HIGH LEVEL OF SOME BANNED SUBSTANCE. AND ALL THE GRAPES WHERE SENT BACK, AND WE LOST ALL OF THEM.

 

NOW WHEN GRAPES LEAVES THE COUNTRY, CHECKED BEFORE, AND NOTHING IS FOUND, AS USSUAL, I ACCEPT IT IS TRUE. BUT WHEN FRUTTERS ON THE DESTINY COUNTRY AND HUNGRY, AND THERE IT'S FOUND ONE GRAPE, AMONG MILLIONS, CONTAMINATED, I TELL THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG! BESIDES IT WASN'T EVEN DANGEROUS AND THE NATIONAL EXPORTATION WAS SUSPENDED BECAUSE ON ONE GRAPE

:( i know....i know the whole history of U.S. fruit corporations like Dole and Chiquita...it's a sad story indeed.

 

did you know that Hawaii islands became part of Ameica 'cuz Dole fruit company basically went there, got land on cheap from the queen of Hawaii--who thought Dole was a friend--then used locals to harvest pineapples and sugarcane and bananas, etc., and then one fine day, stopped paying rent on the land. so the queen got angry and officially expelled the Dole company from Hawaii, but instead, Dole got the U.S. to send in its Army and Navy and dethroned the queen and took over the land from the locals. :confused:

 

so yeah...if Chileans grapes start to squeeze the profits of big American fruit companies, then somehow American government will find something wrong with Chilean grapes... :/ why? because the big American government is owned by big American corporations that give money to the two parties during elections.... :angry:

BUT THAT WAS LONG TIME AGO :D AND WE WENT TO TRIAL, AGAINT THE USA, AND WE DIDN'T WON'T, EITHER LOOSE. AND WE EXPORT AGAIN :D AND A LOT :D AND OUR FRUIT IS BETTER :D

yayyyy! go Chile! :D

 

i know that was long time ago...but i like history...it teaches us a lot about where we came from/who we are....so we're better aware of ourselves. :-)

uhu..I´m so worried about FTAA, ´cos then, U.S. will be more powerful over Latin America...

 

I say NO for FTAA !

Go MTF!

well, many 'regular' people here in America are worried about it too, even about NAFTA....they say all basic American jobs have gone to Mexico and Canada 'cuz of free trade...

 

one of the coffee factories of the company i used to work for...moved to Mexico.

wow

That´s seriuos

Yeah, my unc lost his job a while back b/c the company moved to another... cheaper... country.

well...yes. under Bush administration, America has lost about 3 million jobs.

 

but overall, i feel trade will end up benefitting everyone....let's see. i found my current job after 1 year of looking hard...even though i have a good degree in engineering... 'cuz these jobs are no longer being created so much in the U.S. anymore...