As President Clinton begins his second term in office, the next few months will be crucial to bringing the U.S. back into the economic integration process. And many nations in the Americas view total eradication of the Helms-Burton Act of paramount importance before AFTA talks can resume. Helms-Burton tightens the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba by allowing U.S. citizens to bring suits in U.S. courts against foreign companies that have dealt in properties seized in Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. Issues for Negotiation 1. Any negotiations of economic integration must include discussion on debt and development.
Debt crises continue to wreck havoc on many countries in the Americas.
There was a time, several decades ago, when problems of environmental quality were widely regarded as being unique to developed, industrial economies. Industrial development was associated with air and water pollution, over reliance on chemicals, overcrowding, etc. In recent years, however, it has become clear that massive environmental degradation has in fact occurred in the developing world. Urban areas have experienced seriously diminished air and water quality. And this environmental deterioration in developing countries was not just a matter of aesthetics or quality of life, but rather a more serious issue involving the diminishment of economic productivity and the acceleration of social dislocation.