The Ftaa Essay, Research Paper

The FTAA is the Free Trade Area Americas. Its main goal is to extend the North American Free Trade Agreement to the entire Hemisphere. The FTAA brings together all the leaders of North, South and Central America (except for Cuba) to Quebec for several meetings and negotiations. The FTAA is supposed to adopted no later than 2005.

The FTAA was started in December 1994 in Miami. This summit brought heads of state and government of 34 democracies together to construct a Free Trade Area Americas. By doing so this would eliminate trade barriers investments between countries. The FTAA s plan of action is supposed to strengthen our democracies, prompt prosperity through economic integration and free trade, eradicate poverty and discrimination in our hemisphere, and guarantee sustainable development and preserve our natural environment for the future . The second meeting of the Americas took place in Santiago Chile in April of 1998.

The FTAA s economic scope is based on seven key components; Free trade in the Americas, capitol markets development and Liberalization, hemispheric infrastructure, energy corporation, telecommunication and information infrastructure, cooperation in science and technology, and tourism. Some implications that may go along with the summit could be rioting from protesters; conflicts could arise between governments, disagreements etc.

Free Trade is supposed to strengthen our democracy, make our economy more efficient. Compared to the NAFTA agreement we have now the FTAA seems more open for growth and opportunity. I pose a question why not try something new?.

Potentials benefits for the future are; stronger democracies, more economic stability, eliminate discrimination within the Americas, and it is supposed to be environmentally friendly in preserving our environment for the future.

Criticisms of the FTAA vary in topics. Some topics are that free trade is an environmentally unfriendly proposition. These unfriendly issues include shipping goods long distances, which burns fossil fuels and adds to the pollution in the air. The worry of toxic waste, protesters have plenty of examples of such issues that have already occurred with the NAFTA agreement.