Mexico mega-port plan key to 'NAFTA superhighways'

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | October 7, 2006

[Man50D]

WASHINGTON – There are mixed signals coming from Mexico about the fate of a proposed mega-port in Baja California for mainly Chinese goods that would be shipped on rail lines and "NAFTA superhighways" running through the U.S. to Canada.

The port at Punta Colonet, planned as a major container facility to transfer Asian goods into America's heartland, got at least a temporary setback when a Mexican businessman announced a competing project in which he was seeking to secure mineral rights in the area.

Gabriel Chavez, originally one of the principal movers behind the port plan, now says there are significant amounts of titanium and iron to be mined offshore – a project he considers more important than the port.

Mexican ports czar Cesar Patricio Reyes placed a moratorium on further work toward port planning for three or four months while the government explores ways to make everyone happy.

It is no secret the Mexican government is still committed to the port plan. A map from the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies shows the proposed goods route into a North American community.

According to transportation officials in Arizona, one of the sites considered for a rail line from Punta Colonet, the Mexican government has released an official directive stating its intention to create a new marine facility there -- about 150 miles south of the U.S. border.

The port at Punta Colonet, when completed, is expected to rival the biggest West Coast ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, both heavily congested now.

Bringing goods into a Mexican port would mean lower costs for foreign shippers because of cheaper labor and less restrictive environmental regulations.

Hutchison Ports Mexico, a subsidiary of the Chinese company Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., is keeping reports about progress on the venture close to the vest.

Only recently has the port become a source of controversy in the U.S. as Americans begin questioning highway and rail projects criss-crossing the country – many of which are designed to carry product from Mexico to the U.S. and Canada on the so-called "NAFTA superhighways."

Resentment is building inside the U.S. because of what appear to be secretive plans made outside normal government policymaking channels about immigration, border policies, transportation and integration of the three North American nations.

Transportation Secretary Maria Cino has promised to release plans within months for a one-year, NAFTA pilot program permitting Mexican truckers beyond the limited commercial zone to which they are currently restricted.

The program will likely involve about 100 Mexican trucking companies, the Department of Transportation says.

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement – NAFTA – the borders were to open partially to truckers from both countries in 1995. Full access was promised by 2000. Because of the restrictions on Mexican trucks, the Mexican government has imposed limits on U.S. truckers.

The U.S. restrictions were placed by the Clinton administration in response to demands from the Teamsters union, which said Mexican trucks posed safety and environmental risks. Currently, the U.S. permits Mexican truckers only in commercial zones close to the border that extend no further than 20 miles from Mexico.

While the American Trucking Association supports opening the border, other unions have joined in opposition with the Teamsters. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association came out this month in opposition to any Mexican truck pilot program.

Todd Spencer, the association's executive vice president, said the program would jeopardize safety on U.S. roads and would lead to an influx of cheap Mexican labor.

"A move by the U.S. Department of Transportation to open U.S. roadways to Mexican trucks puts the interest of foreign trade and cheap labor ahead of everything else, including highway safety, homeland security and the well being of hardworking Americans," Spencer said.

In a letter to the Interstate Trade Commission, Spencer wrote: "The net effect of admission of Mexican trucks into the U.S. marketplace would undoubtedly be negative. The supposed benefits to consumers from speculative reductions in shipping rates would be offset by the societal costs that are difficult to measure, but are easy to identify."

Raising more suspicions that such plans are leading to a future integration of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, a high-level, top-secret meeting of the North American Forum took place this month in Banff – with topics ranging from "A Vision for North America," "Opportunities for Security Cooperation" and "Demographic and Social Dimensions of North American Integration."

Despite "confirmed" participants including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Central Intelligence Agency Director R. James Woolsey, former Immigration and Naturalization Services Director Doris Meissner, North American Union guru Robert Pastor, former Defense Secretary William Perry, former Energy Secretary and Defense Secretary James Schlesinger and top officials of both Mexico and Canada, there has been no press coverage of the event. The only media member scheduled to appear at the event, according to documents obtained by WND, was the Wall Street Journal's Mary Anastasia O'Grady.

The event was organized by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and the Canada West Foundation, an Alberta think-tank that promotes closer economic integration with the United States.

The Canadian event is just the latest of a series of meetings, policy papers and directives that have citizens, officials and members of the media wondering whether these efforts represent some sort of coordinated effort to implement a "merger" some have characterized as "NAFTA on steroids."

Last week, government documents released by a Freedom of Information Act request revealed the Bush administration is running what some observers see as a "shadow government" with Mexico and Canada in which the U.S. is crafting a broad range of policy in conjunction with its neighbors to the north and south.

[AmishDude]

You'd rather have the socialist?

What am I saying? Of course you would.

[potlatch]

The OUTHOUSE, the one you posted your E-coli spinach guy to.

[Paul Ross]

Third World status?

You do vaguely remember which nation is supposed to be selling manufactures to whom, don't you? You do remember the siren-song of the "China Market."

LOL!

[Ben Ficklin]

I must have missed that part about defense impacts.

You see, I'm the man that everyone loves to hate because I don't conform to the groupthink. Everyone wants a chance to, verbally, get a piece of my ass.

Consequently, I am replying to several on more than one thread. I miss some things and some people.

[AmishDude]

Third World status?

It's those great economic minds that are making it so hard for those of us in the conspiracy to keep it going.

[Paul Ross]

You'd rather have the socialist?

That's what we are getting. He wants our welfare system to take care of his people. Tell me again how this comports with your "non-socialist" universe?

What am I saying? Of course you would.

Nope. I would prefer that we and they both had real nationalists ruling, and took personal responsibility for the mistakes of the Globalists, and of our trade problems rather than try to obfuscate and duck them...and use them as a Red Herring pretext for Globalization.

[Paul Ross]

because I don't conform to the groupthink.

Remains to be proven.

[Smartass]

FYI and records...

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Monday, October 9, 2006

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THE NEW WORLD DISORDER
Tancredo: Halt 'Security and Prosperity Partnership'
Congressman addresses 'North American Union' issue with commerce secretary

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Posted: October 9, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

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© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

WASHINGTON – Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., has asked Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez in a letter to suspend plans that would further a proposal known as the "Security and Prosperity Partnership," until Congress has a chance to examine its goals.

"I know the administration has given assurances that the SPP is not a veiled effort to create a 'North American Union,' nor an effort designed to dilute American sovereignty by entering into a European Union-like arrangement with Canada and Mexico," said Tancredo, chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus. "Unfortunately, however, [the SPP's] 'recommendations' seem to be at odds with those assurances."

Tancredo, the author of "In Mortal Danger," which exposes what he sees as the crisis of illegal immigration in the U.S., concluded, "As such, I would ask that you consider suspending Commerce Department participation in this tri-lateral effort."

(Story continues below)

Tancredo is one of four members of Congress who has signed on to a resolution designed to express "the sense of Congress that the United States should not engage in the construction of a North American Free Trade Agreement Superhighway System or enter into a North American Union with Mexico and Canada."

Several alarming "recommendations" from the U.S. component of the "North American Competitive Council" suggested that the U.S., Canada and Mexico "work toward acceptance of equivalent standards, objectives, surveillance and enforcement," Tancredo noted.

In the section on pandemic control, the Council recommends that "…all borders and major roads remain open … to allow the unimpeded flow of domestic and international commerce."

Tancredo said the most troubling recommendations appear in the section entitled "Improving Cross-Border Mobility (Goods/Services/People)." In that section, the NACC recommends "the governments evaluate moving customs processes further inland…to take the pressure off the border," and to examine "harmonizing commercial processes for clearance of commercial shipments."

The NACC goes even further, Tancredo said, by recommending "The Secretary of DHS [Department of Homeland Security] … set up a limited short term pass program or otherwise facilitate people who come to the border without documents," and that "... a reasonable grace period should be established at border crossings during which time people without documents are educated about their options and allowed to pass."

WND first reported on the SPP effort last summer.

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Related offers:

For a comprehensive look at the U.S. government's plan to integrate the U.S., Mexico and Canada into a North American super-state – guided by the powerful but secretive Council on Foreign Relations – read "ALIEN NATION: SECRETS OF THE INVASION," a special edition of WND's acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine.

Get Tom Tancredo's new book, "In Mortal Danger," from the people who published it – WND Books.

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Previous stories: North American Union threat gets attention of congressmen

Top U.S. official chaired N. American confab panel

N. American students trained for 'merger'

North American confab 'undermines' democracy

Attendance list North American forum

North American Forum agenda

North American merger topic of secret confab

Feds finally release info on 'superstate'

Senator ditches bill tied to 'superstate'

Congressman presses on 'superstate' plan

Feds stonewalling on 'super state' plan?

Cornyn wants U.S. taxpayers to fund Mexican development

No EU in U.S.

Trans-Texas Corridor paved with campaign contributions?

U.S.-Mexico merger opposition intensifies

More evidence of Mexican trucks coming to U.S.

Docs reveal plan for Mexican trucks in U.S.

Kansas City customs port considered Mexican soil?

Tancredo confronts 'superstate' effort

Bush sneaking North American superstate without oversight?

Related columns:

Coming soon to U.S.: Mexican customs office

Merger with Mexico

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[Ben Ficklin]

Buy my Book!

[Czar]

"And then, suspiciously, you are utterly silent on the enablers of the 'hypothetical' NAU:"

Outstanding post.

[devolve]

Add:

- lettuce (Foxy, others)
- carrot juice (organics again!)

Those hard-working Swiss "migrants" have zoo-like hygiene habits

[Smartass]

"If you don't care about Arizona's NAFTA highway, why would you care about Texas' NAFTA highway."

Because U.S. roads mean nothing to me.

I do care about U.S. sovereignty, and if you're a good American you would to. I do care about this country being dragged down to third world status, and if you're a good American you'd care too. Simple question: Are you Ben Ficklin, a good American?

 

[potlatch]

OK!

[Smartass]

"Buy my Book!"

You gotta be joking. With...Vincente Fox AMEROS!

 

[Ben Ficklin]

Buy Tom's book

[Smartass]

FYI amd records...

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Wednesday, July 20, 2005

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Merger with Mexico

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Posted: July 20, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Joseph Farah

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© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

One of the most frequently asked questions I hear is this: Why does the federal government refuse to accept its responsibility to enforce immigration laws and border security?

Now the answer is becoming clear.

And it's not pretty.

The shadow government – the elitists – do indeed have a plan. And it is a plan that does not include any vestige of U.S. sovereignty or constitutional government. It is a plan for merger – a European Union-style government for North America and eventually the rest of the Americas and the world.

It's all spelled out in the latest reports by the Council on Foreign Relations. There's a five-year plan for the "establishment by 2010 of a North American economic and security community" with a common "outer security perimeter."

Though there has been no national debate on merger with the corruption and socialism of our neighbors to the north and south, there is a roadmap. And unless the American people rise up in righteous indignation against this plan, the roadmap to merger will become the inevitable, guiding force in setting U.S. policy.

In many ways, it already has.

The goal of this merger couldn't be clearer – "a common economic space ... for all people in the region, a space in which trade, capital and people flow freely."

The CFR's strategy calls specifically for "a more open border for the movement of goods and people." It calls for laying "the groundwork for the freer flow of people within North America." It calls for us to "harmonize visa and asylum regulations." It calls for us to "harmonize entry screening."

More open? How could it be any more open? How could the flow of people be any freer? Criminals, terrorists, drug dealers and other undesirables cross into the U.S. on a daily basis – unchecked, unmolested, unscreened. How could we have any less enforcement?

Well, imagine Mexico as the 51st state. That's a picture of what the CFR has in mind with regard to the flow of human traffic back and forth between the two countries.

By the way, even though you didn't hear any national debate about this plan, your president has already committed you, your children and your grandchildren to this policy, according to the CFR.

In "Building a North American Community," the shadow government's 59-page manifesto for merger, we are informed President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin "committed their governments" to this goal March 23 when they met in Texas.

You might remember that little get-together. It was there that Bush characterized the the Minuteman organization of heroic citizen border monitors as "vigilantes."

Last month, a follow-up meeting was held in Canada, suggesting this plan be put on the fast track. The U.S. representative, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, explained at that time that "we want to facilitate the flow of traffic across our borders."

Silly me. I thought the objective of Homeland Security was to protect the American people from terrorist attacks! But the real goal is making it easier for Mexicans and Canadians and anyone else using those territories to enter our country undetected and unmolested.

The CFR plan also calls for massive redistribution of wealth – more of your hard-earned money flowing to Mexico and Canada to make this panacea possible. It also calls for the implementation of "the Social Security Totalization Agreement" so that illegal aliens will be certain to bankrupt the system Bush claims to be trying to save.

It is a stunning betrayal of the will of the American people, the Constitution of the United States, the Declaration of Independence and all of our notions of limited government, self-government, freedom, sovereignty, the rule of law and justice.

I don't know how else to say it: It is an open conspiracy to commit treason.

It's time to fight the War of Independence all over again.

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Joseph Farah is founder, editor and CEO of WND and a nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate. His latest book is "Taking America Back." He also edits the weekly online intelligence newsletter Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, in which he utilizes his sources developed over 30 years in the news business.

 

[Smartass]

Got to go all you great Americans...
Have a good evening.

 

[antceecee]

Thanks for all the pings today!!!

[Czar]

Excellent post, Smart. Of course, our resident FR OBL hyena pack will immediately initiate the usual mudslinging toward Farah and WND.

[1rudeboy]

Finally, let's remember that while the origins of this debate are murky at best, quote sources that are from the Canadian ULTRA-LEFT won't exactly help your argument on THIS website.

What are you talking about? It's being applauded! And when it's pointed out, cries of victimhood are heard throughout cyberspace. And when that's done, we finally get the "there's only so much I can do on this thread, later everybody." LOLOLOLOL