NAFTA ON STEROIDS

BY AMANDA WITHERELL
San Francisco Bay Guardian


At the SPP meeting in Ottawa, Canada, on February 23, 2007, Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez met with Canadian Ministry of Industry Maxime Bernier, Mexican Secretary of the Economy Eduardo Sojo, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter MacKay, Mexican Secretary of External Affairs Patricia Espinosa Castellano, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, Canadian Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day, and Mexican Secretary of the Interior Francisco Javier Ramirez Acuna.

Coupling the perennial issue of security with Wall Street's measures of prosperity, the leaders of the three North American nations convened the Security and Prosperity Partnership. The White House–led initiative — launched at a March 23, 2005, meeting of President Bush, Mexico's then-president Vicente Fox, and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin — joins beefed-up commerce with coordinated military operations to promote what it calls "borderless unity."


Critics call it "NAFTA on steroids." However, unlike NAFTA, the SPP was formed in secret, without public input.


"The SPP is not a law, or a treaty, or even a signed agreement," Laura Carlsen wrote in a report for the Center for International Policy. "All these would require public debate and participation of Congress, both of which the SPP has scrupulously avoided."


Instead the SPP has a special workgroup: the North American Competitiveness Council. It's a coalition of private companies that are, according to the SPP Web site, "adding high-level business input [that] will assist governments in enhancing North America's competitive position and engage the private sector as partners in finding solutions."


The NACC includes the Chevron Corporation, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Merck & Co. Inc., New York Life Insurance Co., Procter & Gamble Co., and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.


"Where are the environmental council, the labor council, and the citizen's council in this process?" Carlsen asked.


A look at NAFTA's unpopularity among citizens in all three nations is evidence of why its expansion would need to be disguised. "It's a scheme to create a borderless North American Union under US control without barriers to trade and capital flows for corporate giants, mainly US ones," wrote Steven Lendman in Global Research. "It's also to insure America gets free and unlimited access to Canadian and Mexican resources, mainly oil, and in the case of Canada, water as well."


Sources: "Deep Integration," Laura Carlsen, Center for International Policy, May 30, 2007; "The Militarization and Annexation of North America," Stephen Lendman, Global Research, July 19, 2007; "The North American Union," Constance Fogal, Global Research, Aug. 2, 2007.



Security and Prosperity Partnership Of North America


SPP Background


The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) was launched in March of 2005 as a trilateral effort to increase security and enhance prosperity among the United States, Canada and Mexico through greater cooperation and information sharing.


This trilateral initiative is premised on our security and our economic prosperity being mutually reinforcing. The SPP recognizes that our three great nations are bound by a shared belief in freedom, economic opportunity, and strong democratic institutions.


The SPP provides the framework to ensure that North America is the safest and best place to live and do business. It includes ambitious security and prosperity programs to keep our borders closed to terrorism yet open to trade.


The SPP builds upon, but is separate from, our long-standing trade and economic relationships.


It energizes other aspects of our cooperative relations, such as the protection of our environment, our food supply, and our public health.


Looking forward, President Bush, Prime Minister Harper and President Fox identified emergency management; influenza pandemics, including avian influenza; energy security; and safe and secure gateways (border security and facilitation) as key priorities for the SPP. The Leaders also announced the creation of North American Competitiveness Council to fully incorporate the private sector into the SPP process.

http://www.spp.gov/index.asp
Prosperity Agenda
Prosperity Working Groups
Security Agenda
SPP Documents and Useful Links
SPP Comment Form
White House SPP Fact Sheet March 31, 2006

Joint Statement by Ministers Responsible for the Security and Prosperity of North America
Los Cabos, MexicoFebruary 28, 2008
Carlos Gutierrez, Secretary of Commerce, United StatesMichael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security, United StatesEduardo Sojo, Secretary of Economy, MexicoJuan Mouriño, Secretary of Interior, MexicoJim Prentice, Minister of Industry, CanadaStockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, Canada