From: harelb@math.cornell.edu (Harel Barzilai)
Subject: More EIA News (Bush's "Enterprise for the Americas Initiative")
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1992 05:15:12 GMT


    "Mexican farm representatives ... concurred with a Nebraska Farmers
    Union spokesman who said the NAFTA text would hurt family farmers
    and help big agricultural companies.
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[Via misc.activism.progressive from PeaceNet's aia.news]
ARGENTINE  CANDIDATE RUNS AGAINST NEOLIBERALISM 

Raul Alfonsin,  President of Argentina from 1983 to 1989,  is  
working to create a coalition based on a platform of "social  
democracy"  to confront what Alfonsin calls the  current  
government's  "neoliberal transition that involves restricted  
democracy."  Claiming that "the weight of these changes has  
fallen on the poorest sectors,"  Alfonsin hopes to gain support  
from "people who come from Peronism,  who still think in  
terms of social justice and democracy."  Alfonsin's democratic  
presidency followed seven years of military dictatorship and  
was marked by both respect for human rights end economic  
crisis. 

The political moves by Raul Alfonsin come at a time when  
Argentina's Catholic bishops have called  on the current  
government  of Carlos Menem for "humanized economic  
adjustment."  Although President Menem responded that  
poverty has decreased under his administration,  Bishop Dante  
Sandrelli of Formosa claims poverty has increased.  In  
criticizing the government's handling of the economy,   
Sandrelli said, "An important reconstruction plan cannot be  
achieved in a short period of time.  The people responsible for  
the changes should think about the people who ... have to pay  
the consequences of the rush."   

Source:  "Interview with Argentine Former President:  'We need  
to renew the parties,'"  and the "Church" section,   
LATINAMERICA PRESS,  September 17,  1992,  p. 7. 
______________________________________________ 
MENEM SAYS NO TO WAGE INCREASE 

In a September 29 statement,  Argentine President Carlos  
Menem said he would not raise wages because there had been  
no corresponding raise in worker productivity, denying reports  
that he had offered "wage flexibility" to union affiliated   
Congress members in exchange for the passage of a petroleum  
industry privatization bill. 

Workers say their purchasing power has decreased by 8.6% over  
the past year,  but the government claims that holding down  
wages is the key to holding down inflation. 

	[translation: IMF Orders come (well) before the hungry and homless]

Source:  Latin America Briefs,  ASSOCIATED PRESS,  September  
29,  1992. 
______________________________________________ 
##################################################################

_________________________________ 
MEXICAN FARM REPS OPPOSE NAFTA 

In a visit to the U.S.,  three Mexican farm representatives said  
NAFTA would not help small farmers in Mexico.  Noting that  
agriculture in Mexico is polarized between a few big corporate  
farms and many small family farms,  they concurred with a  
Nebraska Farmers Union spokesman who said the NAFTA text  
would hurt family farmers and help big agricultural companies.   
Organizations represented by the Mexican delegation were  
Mexico's National Union of Autonomous Regional Farmers and  
the only farmer-run coffee marketting organization in Mexico.   
The Nebraska Farmers Union sponsored the visit. 

Source:  Art Hovey,  "Agriculture Highly Polarized,  Say Mexican  
Farming Reps,"  LINCLON STAR,  September 21,  1992,  p.4;   "2  
Mexican Groups Criticize Trade Pact,"  OMAHA WORLD HERALD,   
September 22,  1992. 

##################################################################
_______________________________________________ 
CANADIANS COULD LOOSE INVESTMENT UNDER NAFTA 

The Conference Board of Canada September 24 published a  
study  showing that Canada could loose both domestic and  
foreign investment under the North American Free Trade  
Agreement (NAFTA).  According to the study,  Canadian  
subsidiaries of U.S. companies which were originally started in  
Canada to circumvent trade barriers may close.  In addition,   
Canada's high production costs may become as important in the  
investment decisions of Canadian companies as they are for  
foreign investors.  

Source:  Bernard Simon,  "Canadians Warned on Nafta,"   
FINANCIAL TIMES,  September 25,  1992,  p. 6.  
________________________________________ 
Produced by: 
Hannah Holm 
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) 
1313 Fifth Street SE,  Suite #303 
Minneapolis,  MN  55414-5980   USA 

Telephone:(612)379-5980 Fax:(612)379-5982 
E-Mail:iatp@igc.org 
______________________________________________ 
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive