August 2001 Vol.4, No. 7 Contents The G8 and the Elephant in the Living Room by Melvin Rhodes Restoration...A Blueprint for Prosperity by Darris McNeely Free Trade Area of the Americas - What Will Happen to Latin America? by Fred Nance Dancing With Indecency by Cecil E. Maranville Excerpts From Good News Radio: Are We Living in the Time of the End? by Gary Petty In Brief... World News Review by Tom Kirkpatrick, Cecil E. Maranville and L. Jim Tuck This Is the Way... No Fishin' Allowed in School by Robin Webber Free Trade Area of the Americas - What Will Happen to Latin America? The United States can no longer take its superiority in the economy of the western hemisphere for granted. The EU's economic reach grows ever longer and its influence ever stronger. by Fred Nance Many people in the western hemisphere desire the "American dream." The prosperity and economic boom of the 1990s in the United States has many nations longing for open markets, so they can begin to taste some of the good times. On the planning table is the "Free Trade Agreement of the Americas" (FTAA) that would create the largest free trade agreement the world has ever seen. It is hoped that by the year 2005, the FTAA will create a market of 800 million people in the Americas, from the Arctic to Antarctica. This past April, 34 nations participated in the Summit of the Americas in Quebec. President Bush actively took part in that summit and has been asking the U.S. Congress for authority to negotiate this agreement. "I will look south, not as an afterthought, but as a fundamental commitment of my presidency. Those who ignore Latin America do not fully understand America itself," said the president (Latin Trade Magazine, June 2001, p. 30). He has promised that the trade zone will not only create markets for the United States, but will fortify democracy in Latin America and spread the economic benefits equitably. Can a partnership be forged between the United States and Latin America? What is the most likely scenario for these nations, according to Bible prophecy? As pointed out in a recent New York Times article, the combination of democracy and free enterprise in Latin America does not guarantee higher living standards. Every nation in the western hemisphere except Cuba presently has an elected government, with increasingly open markets. Yet, 224 million Latin Americans (roughly 36 percent of the population) live in poverty. Many of these nations are experimenting with democratic capitalism for the first time. As a result of this experimentation, economic benefits do not filter down to the masses, because the region's rigid social structure isn't equipped to equitably distribute wealth. "Latin Americans get to choose their leaders, but once they are in place, it's the old cliques that make the bottom-line decisions that are suitable to their own needs, not the needs of the people," says Hernando De Soto, a Peruvian economist ("Latin America's Poor Survive It All," New York Times, June 24, 2001). The source of divergence Read the full article at www.wnponline.org/wnp/wnp0108/trade.htm Related Information on UCG Sites: Table of Contents that includes "Free Trade Area of the Americas - What Will Happen to Latin America?" Other Articles by Fred Nance Trade: _Trade With China - Road to Utopia or Conflict? _World News Review Aug 2001 _The World's Number One Exporting Nation _What's Next for the World Economy: Possible Trade War? Latin America: _World News Review December 1998 _Increasing EU Presence in Latin America _Alarming Increase of Anti-Americanism in Latin America _World News Review Jan 2005 _Anti-American Sentiment Increases in South America _Venezuela - Six More Years of Chavez _World News & Trends January 2010 European Union - trade: _What to Watch to Discern the Times _The Battle of the Giants -- Who Will Win? _A Looming EU-U.S. Trade War? _World News Review May 2004 _Trade Winds Blow Canada Toward EU _When the Gas Pumps in Europe Run Dry _A Page on the World: The Next Superpower? _Europe's Growing Energy Worries _A Europe Without Borders - The "Schengen Zone" _Germany's Rising Economic and Political Power _"Borderless" Europe Now Encompasses 400 Million People _World News and Trends - March/April 2008 _The Coming European Superpower European Union - U.S.: _The Citadel and the Caravan _The Euro-Implications for England and America _Deutschland AG Versus Corporate America _Another Crack in the Transatlantic Alliance? _World News Review Nov 2002 _The Coming Clash Between Europe and America _The Palace of Versailles -- Again at the Center of World Events _Has America Finally Seen the Light? _World News Review September/October 2003 _Will European Unity Be Forged in Fear? _The United States of Europe - A Growing Threat to American Interests _Where Are America and Europe Really Headed? _A Page on the World...The United States of Europe _A Page on the World...Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century _Europe in Crisis - Is This the End of the European Union? _Hatred Rising _A Growing Confederacy Against Modern Israel _What Will the Next President Face? _What Will the Next President Face? (Part 2) _The Marshall Plan Revisited _An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Nov/Dec 2002 _Prophecy Being Fulfilled? _Where Is the Europe-U.S. Divide Leading? _Our World Is Rapidly Changing - in Ways Foretold by Bible Prophecy _World News and Trends - May/June 2007 Search Our Site Key Subjects Index General Topics Index Biblical References Index Good News Magazine Index Booklets and All Literature Index Home Page of this site