BBC Monitoring Latin America | November 14, 2003, Friday
Text of report by Arnaldo Galvao on telephone interview with Celso Amorim on 8 November from Washington, published by Brazilian newspaper Correio Braziliense web site on 10 November
Brazilian diplomacy is confident that the constructive climate at the meetings on Friday and Saturday 7-8 November in Washington is a sign that the Americans have a better grasp of what the proposal that is being called "three track" is: to negotiate whatever is possible so that the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) can be created in 2005 and to leave the more difficult themes to the WTO.
If there is one thing that the United States does not want, especially with George W. Bush in the presidency and Jeb Bush as governor of Florida, is a failure at the FTAA ministerial conference that will be held in Miami from 16-21 November. In 1994, when the idea was launched for a broad trade agreement that would liberate trade between the 34 countries of the Americas, except Cuba, their father was the president of the United States.
On Saturday night, Ambassador Celso Amorim, the foreign minister, granted an exclusive interview to Correio this paper , by telephone. He had just finished taking part in a meeting with US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and ministers of 14 other countries of the Americas. The main passages follow:
Galvao Is there a greater understanding on Brazil's part regarding the difficulties the Americans are having in negotiating domestic agricultural subsidies and anti-dumping rules in the FTAA?
Amorim Nothing has been negotiated. People are looking for news where there is none. What we are defending, what is called the three track proposal, is precisely that. The biggest difficulties should be negotiated in the WTO. Strictly speaking, there is nothing new in this. There was too great a repercussion over something that was already a strategy of ours.
Galvao In these two days in Washington, was there a greater rapprochement by the Americans?
Amorim It is too complex for such simple statements. We are still discussing the architecture of a new construction. When it comes to building the walls, other problems may emerge. There was an understanding that realism and flexibility are needed. People can insist on words such as "broad" to qualify the FTAA. We agree to it being broad as long as it is also balanced. Realism and flexibility are important if we are to finish the negotiations within the envisaged time-frame. This is something that seems to me to be very important.
When speaking about flexibility, it must be understood that certain countries, small Central American countries for example, have a market that is not that attractive to the United States. They have to offer more in other areas. In Brazil's case the goods and services market is a very attractive one. Americans have to see this as a whole. I think that they understand this and are aware that we can only make progress by consensus. Broadness with balance. Flexibility with realism.
Galvao Is the distance between the Brazilian and American proposals shrinking?
Amorim Yes. But I don't know if all the representatives of the other 14 countries that took part in this mini-ministerial (meeting) agreed with everything. We are trying to get a sense of what each is feeling. Since everyone was seeing this difference between Brazil and the United States as being the big problem and we presented common ideas, I think that it was positive. This is just one step in getting the negotiations to make progress. It is not a definitive answer.
Galvao Didn't the Americans repeat the criticism already made by their co-president in the FTAA talks, Deputy US Trade Representative Peter Allgeier? He said that the Brazilian proposal disfigures the agreement, reducing it to a set of bilateral agreements.
Amorim We heard no criticism nor did we criticize them. We looked for solutions to the problems.BBC Monitoring Latin America:
