Guatemala to strengthen Mercosur ties
Houston Chronicle, Jan. 3, 2006
Guatemala to Strengthen Mercosur Ties
By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA Associated Press Writer
Guatemala’s government - annoyed by the delay in CAFTA’s implementation and the U.S. House of Representative’s approval of a wall to keep out illegal immigrants - announced Tuesday it would seek to strengthen its relations with the Mercosur trading bloc.
"The decision to approach Mercosur has been made," Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Stein told The Associated Press in a telephone interview, referring to bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Guatemalan officials will seek to establish contacts with Mercosur leaders at the upcoming inauguration of Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales, Stein said.
Seeking ties with the South American countries "is a natural follow-up to the offer from President (Luiz Ignacio) Lula (da Silva) of Brazil to negotiate with Guatemala, something we put off until finishing negotiations for the (CAFTA) treaty with the United States," Stein said.
"It is indispensable to diversify our trade and diplomatic relations so as not to depend mostly, or even worse, exclusively, on a single trade relationship," he said.
U.S. President George W. Bush signed CAFTA, an acronym for the Central America Free Trade Agreement, with leaders of five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic in May. The U.S. Congress ratified it in August.
But a delay by the Central American nations in passing necessary legal and regulatory reforms has prompted most countries to push back their deadlines for CAFTA’s implementation until February at the earliest.
The Guatemalan Congress has not yet approved the required legal reforms but a congressional committee has given them a favorable recommendation, which Guatemala’s executive branch considered sufficient for the United States to give the pact the go-ahead.
Last week, Stein said Guatemala would look "for other latitudes where people are more respected," a veiled reference to the U.S. House of Representative’s approval of a measure to build more border fences, make illegal immigration a felony and enlist military and local police to help stop undocumented migrants. The measure must still be approved by the U.S. Senate.
Stein said Guatemala’s overtures to Mercosur should not necessarily be viewed as connected with the country’s opposition to U.S. migration measures.
Mercosur joined with Venezuela at the Summit of the Americas in Argentina in November to oppose U.S. and Canadian efforts to propose a timeframe for the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The 34-nation FTAA would stretch from Canada to Chile, including all nations in the hemisphere except for Cuba.
