7 Jun 04 - SpicaBooks.Com/NAFTA.html N A F T A North American Free Trade Agreement

Full Metal-Clad Racket A judge in British Columbia ruled last week that a NAFTA tribunal was right to award millions of dollars to a U.S. company that was prevented from opening a hazardous waste treatment plant in Mexico. Justice David Tysoe of the Supreme Court of B.C. found that the move by the state government of San Luis Potosi to declare an area an ecological preserve to prevent the Metalclad plant from opening amounted to an expropriation of the company's investment. The case was heard in Canada because the NAFTA tribunal designated B.C. as a neutral legal venue. Toronto National Post, Ian Jack, 05 May 2001 - www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20010505/552870.html New York Times, Anthony DePalma, 04 May 2001 - www.nytimes.com/2001/05/04/business/04META.html

	Drugs & NAFTA * It wasn't the Mexicans, but the American banks who pushed that the NAFTA legislation be passed in the U.S. Congress. * Mexican drug cartels park more of their laundered drug money in American banks than they do in Mexican banks. * Democrats pretend to be the defenders of American labor. * Not only Republicans, but Democratic Congressmen voted to pass the NAFTA bill. * Many American factories have been closed and relocated to Mexico where salaries are much lower. Most American union leaders still state that the Democratic Party is their friend. Go figure. * As a unified Europe has reduced border inspections for drugs in Europe, the new NAFTA laws have reduced border inspections for drugs along the Mexican-American border and the Canadian-American border. * Jeff Romero, the District Attorney in Albuquerque, says that it's Mexicans forcing drugs onto Americans that's causing America's drug problem. That's absolute BS. It's the wealthy Americans with the demand that the Mexican cartels are catering. * NAFTA is a good example of how the power of the states has been reduced due to the global economy. The tremendous increase of trade between Mexico and the United States has resulted in an opportunity for international narcotics traffickers to smuggle increased amounts of illegal drugs into the US. This has led to increased drug-related crime in the border states who are powerless to interfere with the importation of goods from Mexico. The states' historic ability to provide for the health and safety of their residents has been diminished. * NAFTA winners: American banks, American manufacturers, and Mexican drug cartels. * NAFTA losers: American labor and your neighborhood.
	Environmental Groups Protest 'Secret' NAFTA Talks Washington (Reuters) - April 28, 2000 - Environmental groups on Thursday accused the United States, Canada and Mexico of holding secret talks that could weaken wildlife protection under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In a letter to government ministers, 91 environmental groups called on NAFTA trading partners to immediately suspend the negotiations, which activists said have gone on for 10 months behind closed doors. "These secret negotiations must stop," said Mark Van Putten, president of the National Wildlife Federation, one of the largest conservation groups in the United States. U.S. officials no immediate comment. Activists said NAFTA is the only trade agreement with guidelines that make it possible for groups to protest when environmental laws are not being enforced. An environmental side-agreement calls for public input as the guidelines for determining environmental problems are developed. Last June the guidelines were revised with input from environmental groups from Canada, Mexico and the United States. There were only supposed to be small revisions to these guidelines after the June meeting, the environmental groups said. But instead, NAFTA ministers have been conducting "secret meetings to completely change key parts of these guidelines," they said in a statement. The letter was signed by a wide range of groups, including the Sierra Club, the World Wildlife Fund, Enlace Ecologico A.C. and the Canadian Environmental Law Association.

Comments on this webpage from a retired researcher with the CIA (12-22-99): Andrew, Today I went to your webpages. They are impressive, especially the art work/graphics. Aside from being beautiful, they are clear, easily readable and understandable--something I usually find sadly (and surprisingly) lacking in large corporation's webpages. I cannot think of anything I would suggest changing. Best wishes for Christmas and the new year, Steve FTAA WTO Globalize This Register Third Party. Progressive Links