Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Chavez, Fox and the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America

In what has become a vindictive exchange of words between Mexican President Vicente Fox and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, which on the surface appears to be an ideological battle over trade policy, is in fact rooted in the future development and economic integration of the Americas. Although the Venezuelan president’s words may have isolated him for the moment from the Fox administration, it is actually Fox, and his party, who may be isolated from the Mexican people and government with elections coming up in July of 2006.

The debate, which is by no means a new one, has returned to public attention following the Summit of the Americas in Argentina, where Chavez, members of MERCUSOR (the South American trade bloc), and thousands of people in the streets of Mar Del Plata, "buried" the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).