Comment
Free Trade Missing from your excellent report on North American free trade [Vol. XXIV, No. 6] was the larger GATT negotiations, the umbrella talks under which bilateral and multilateral...
...Independent socialist Carlos Filizzola, a young physician and union organizer, became the new mayor, raising hopes that an independent can- didate could win the 1993 presidential elections...
...6] was right: Paraguay's political pressure cooker has burst...
...Mark Ritchie Fair Trade Campaign Minneapolis War in the Andes As you warned in your report on Shining Path [Vol...
...I would like to see NACLA produce an equally comprehensive report on the GATT talks and their impact on all of the Americas...
...Filizzola first came to national prominence in 1984, when he led a protest movement to demand improved wages and working conditions for state health care workers...
...The country's first municipal elections in May ended the ColoradoParty's 35-year political monopoly in the capital, Asunci6n...
...military advisers...
...The treaty, to be implemented without the approval of the Peruvian Congress, was the first step towards releas- ing the $34 million in military aid and $60 million in economic aid earmarked by the Bush administration for Peru...
...Although Filizzola, 31, was the only independent mayoral candidate to win, independents garnered 28% of the vote in town council elections nationwide...
...By focussing on the supply side of the cocaine economy, the BushFujimori initiative creates a smokescreen intended to deny the responsibility of the country which consumes over 70% of the world's cocaine sup- ply...
...4], the United States is wading deeper into Peru's bitter war...
...The second step was Bush's certifica- tion in late July of human rights improvement, despite widespread evidence to the contrary...
...Moreover, as Peru's economic situation worsens under Fujimori's neoliberal reforms, coaxing peasants away from the lucrative coca crop is increas- ingly unlikely, even with the added firepower the United States will now provide...
...Deborah Poole Gerardo R6nique New York Progressive Wins in Paraguay Last May's "Taking Note" column [Vol...
...Brazil and Argentina, in particular, have been under tremendous pressure to open their service and barley sectors to foreign takeovers and influence while giving up many of their sovereign rights to shape and mold their economies...
...In mid-May, President Fujimori disclosed to the Peruvian Congress the anti-drug treaty he negotiated behind closed doors with the United States, which provides for 50 U.S...
...The GATT talks are being used to pressure farmers and workers in the United States and in each of the 100 member nations...
...Filizzola's Asunci6n para Todos (Asunci6n for All) campaign began with the CUT, but quickly spread to include community organizations, students and Colorado defectors...
...Peru's peasant unions, political parties, and Church and non-governmental organizations have proposed alternatives, ranging from the legalization of leaf production and the development of pharmaceutical and traditional markets, to increased democratic participation in the formulation of drug-control policies...
...6] was the larger GATT negotiations, the umbrella talks under which bilateral and multilateral trade deals like NAFTA are conducted...
...According to the United Nations, Peru has led the world for the last four years in the number of forced disap- pearances...
...Filizzola cannot run for president before the year 2000, since candidates must be 40 years old, but Paraguayan progressives view his success as a portent of future victories...
...Rachel Neild Washington Office on Latin America...
...And it will only add to army-led violence against Peru's poor...
...Though arrested and beaten several times, he became deputy secretary general of Paraguay's largest labor federation, the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT), and in 1990 he led the Yacyretd Dam workers in the largest and longest strike Paraguay had seen in decades...
...Under Fujimori, extrajudicial executions, disappearances and tor- ture are no longer the exception, but the rule...
...In 1989, Peru took in between $1.3 and $2.8 billion from the sale of coca and coca-paste, compared to $3 billion in legal exports...
Vol. 25 • August 1991 • No. 2
