Last week the Bolivian Government released a new document which articulates the kind of Trade Agreement they are looking to sign with willing countries. The stated purpose of their Agreement is:
To achieve a true integration among peoples that transcends the commercial and economic arenas, recognizing the differences of each country, and at the same time prioritizing the protection of internal production and national companies. A treaty which holds, above all, the well being of the people and a respect for their history and cultures.
The government will be producing two additional versions of this document, a popular version for massive distribution and a diplomatic version which they will use to negotiate with interested countries. The document continues:
In response to the FTAs, being promoted by the US: The first alternative proposal from President Morales to promote fair trade and integration based on solidarity among the Peoples of Latin American.
THE PEOPLE'S TRADE AGREEMENT proposed by President Evo Morales is a response to the collapse of the neo-liberal model which is based on the core principles of deregulation, privatization and the indiscriminate opening of markets.
It is no longer acceptable for a small group of powerful countries to deny poor nations the right to design their own development models based on internal necessities and to dictate 'global' economic models which don't provide adequate solutions to our development problems, as even the World Bank admits in its documents. /*To read the rest of this document go to:* /http://quest.quixote.org/node/295/ /.