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MIAMI -- The first regular session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States on U.S. soil in 30 years is occurring during a time of turmoil for the organization. It's not likely to be helped by a frosty welcome from its hosts. The city of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is suddenly displaying a cold shoulder, and some officials are regretting the invitation to the OAS. It's yet another problem for the organization, which is struggling to select its leader and at the same time is involved in a number of squabbles throughout the hemisphere. Fort Lauderdale is spending...

Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista urged integration between the United States and Mexico during a talk Thursday at the University of Texas-Pan American. The 500-seat Student Union Theater was nearly full as Derbez spoke about the importance of promoting a symbiotic relationship between the two countries in order to bring security and prosperity to both sides of the border. Derbez is a leading contender to head the Organization of American States, which is made up of 34 countries to promote democracy and regional cooperation. "We are integrating," he said, citing the growing Mexican-American communities in the...

The federal government has laid out a sweeping new plan for its Armed Forces, promising a better-equipped, more efficient and more effective military at home and abroad - all within five years. "Today's front lines stretch from the streets of Kabul to the rail lines of Madrid to our own Canadian cities," says a 32-page defence policy statement released Tuesday. "Global terrorism has become a deadly adversary and Canadians are now, in some ways, more individually threatened than at any time during the Cold War." The document promises to effectively double Canada's overseas capability, forge a stronger continental defence with...

How deceit is integral to the development of the EU was admitted frankly by Italian prime minister Guiliano Amato in an interview with Barbara Spinelli of La Stampa on 13 July 2000. Since then Amato became vice-president of the convention that drafted the EU constitution. Here are some things he said: "The project of the European constitution is daring, but to overcome obstacles in politics it is necessary to conceal them. In Europe one needs to act 'as if' - as if what was wanted was little, in order to obtain much, as if states were to remain sovereign to...

The early returns are in: A number of retired U.S. diplomats, George Soros and the renamed World Federalist Association (now doing business as Citizens for Global Solutions) think what is needed now is less an American ambassador to the United Nations than an advocate for the U.N.'s dismal status quo assigned as a representative to the Bush administration. Fortunately, President Bush believes very differently. He understands that the United Nations needs -- now more than ever -- the United States to have as its ambassador there someone who is not only a seasoned and highly skilled diplomat, deeply knowledgeable about...

March 14, 2005-Three former high-ranking government officials from Canada, Mexico, and the United States are calling for a North American economic and security community by 2010 to address shared security threats, challenges to competitiveness, and interest in broad-based development across the three countries. Former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance John P. Manley, former Finance Minister of Mexico Pedro Aspe, and former Governor of Massachusetts and Assistant U.S. Attorney General William F. Weld make policy recommendations to articulate a long-term vision for North America in a Chairmen's Statement of the Independent Task Force on the Future of North...

Maisto offers suggestions to improve draft Summit declaration Preparations for the Fourth Summit of the Americas, to be hosted by Argentina in November, are off to a good start, but work still remains for Western Hemisphere nations as they craft a summit declaration and plan of action, according to U.S. National Summit Coordinator John Maisto. In March 25 remarks at the Civil Society Task Force "Summit in Focus" Program in Washington, Maisto said that a recent Summit Implementation Review Group meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, marked the beginning of negotiations toward a summit declaration and plan of action. The U.S....

An opposition party that is helping to keep Canada's minority Liberal government in power angrily accused Prime Minister Paul Martin on Tuesday of planning to push an agenda of closer integration with the United States. Martin is due to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) and Mexican President Vincente Fox in Texas on Wednesday for talks that will include discussions on how to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canadian officials say they want to eliminate "nuisance tariffs" among the three partners and harmonize some continental business regulations. But the idea of any deeper...

A battle is heating up over the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement, which could come before Congress for a vote as early as this spring or summer. The nation's 19-state cane and beet sugar industry, including sugar cane growers and processors in Palm Beach County, say the pact threatens the 146,000 jobs created by U.S. sugar production. "We are doing everything we can to defeat CAFTA," said Carolyn Cheney, Washington representative for the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida in Belle Glade. "We believe CAFTA is another NAFTA in disguise." Meanwhile, the debate is expected to begin in earnest...

President Bush will try to ease tensions over trade and immigration at a summit Wednesday with the leaders of Canada and Mexico that is expected to focus on strengthening security and economic ties. The meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and Mexican President Vicente Fox is expected to produce a plan for improving North American economic competitiveness in a global environment seeing the rise of China and India and the expansion of the European Union, analysts said. The United States is pressing for stronger security measures, Mexico is seeking a promise on immigration issues and Canada is hoping for...

OTTAWA - Mexico wants its North American neighbours to move more quickly towards integration on a continental scale, the country's foreign secretary said on Friday. Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Jorge Castaneda was in Ottawa on Friday, meeting for the first time with Minister of Foreign Affairs Bill Graham. "We would like to continentalize as much as possible," he said. Castaneda said the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 brought to the fore the idea of harmonizing several policy areas across the continent. What Mexico wants, he said, goes beyond the continental perimeter idea that has been discussed at length in Canada...

"Does accepting the European Constitution mean a surrender of member states' sovereignty? Absolutely." Miguel Ángel Moratinos, the Spanish Foreign Minister and Special Envoy to the Middle East for seven years, invited us into his home to tell us about his take on the EU Constitution Surrounded by trinkets he has gathered from all the corners of the world, he tells us why a united Europe is the only way forward The Constitutional Treaty dedicates itself to coordinating foreign affairs: what benefits does this guarantee for the EU as a whole? The post of European Minister for Foreign Affairs is revolutionary;...

The World Trade Organization, which the United States joined in 1994, has been disastrous for American sovereignty. A tax bill passed last year provides a vivid example of just how blatantly Congress is surrendering our sovereignty to quasi-governmental bodies like the WTO. For years, high-tax Europe has objected to how we tax American companies on their overseas earnings. The EU took its dispute to the WTO grievance board, which voted in favor of the Europeans. The WTO ruling was clear: Congress must change American law to comply with European rules. Make no mistake about it: WTO ministers tell Congress to...

Feb. 14, 2005. 06:50 AM Border talks called `disturbing' Canadian vice-chair insists group has no hidden agendaSEAN GORDON OTTAWA BUREAU OTTAWA—An influential tri-national panel has considered a raft of bold proposals for an integrated North America, including a continental customs union, single passport and contiguous security perimeter. According to a confidential internal summary from the first of three meetings of the Task Force on the Future of North America, discussions also broached the possibility of lifting trade exemptions on cultural goods and Canadian water exports. Those last two suggestions were dismissed in subsequent deliberations, say members of the task force,...

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 16 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging the Congress of the United States to place a moratorium on new free trade agreements, to investigate and review current free trade agreements and policies of the United States, to investigate and review participation of the United States with international trade organizations, and to ensure that the agreements, policies, and participation are in the best interests of the citizens of Indiana and the United States. Whereas, Between January 2000 and January 2004, Indiana lost approximately 102,000 manufacturing jobs; Whereas, Manufacturing results in three to seven jobs created for each manufacturing job;...

President George W Bush will give a stunningly warm endorsement of the European Union today saying that America wants a "strong Europe" as a "strong partner" to advance the cause of freedom.In the opening address of a four-day reconciliatory tour of Europe he will usher in a new era of co-operation saying that the alliance of Europe and North America is the "main pillar of our security in a new century". He will also offer some of the strongest ever support for European integration by an American president. "America supports Europe's democratic unity for the same reason we support the...

The key to understanding Lincoln's philosophy of statesmanship is that he always sought the meeting point between what was right in theory and what could be achieved in practice. By Dinesh D'Souza Most Americans -- including most historians -- regard Abraham Lincoln as the nation's greatest president. But in recent years powerful movements have gathered, both on the political right and the left, to condemn Lincoln as a flawed and even wicked man. For both camps, the debunking of Lincoln usually begins with an exposé of the "Lincoln myth," which is well described in William Lee Miller's 2002 book Lincoln's...

Besides driving whole industries and millions of jobs offshore, U.S. trade agreements are threatening our national independence and freedom. The Jolly Green Giant has been a landmark around Dayton, Washington, for generations. But he does not seem so jolly these days. In fact, the fading outline of the 300-foot tall brand name icon is barely visible now on the hillside above town. This June, Dayton’s asparagus cannery, the world’s largest, will see its last season. Seneca Foods, which cans about half of the state’s $30 million asparagus crop for General Mills’ Green Giant label, is closing the Dayton plant and...

TOKYO, Japan — Outsourcing and fabless foundry business strategies are common in the semiconductor industry, but Rohm, Sony and Renesas are seeking more integration. Rohm Co. Ltd. seeks the ultimate vertical integration from wafer production, LSI fabrication to chip assembly. "By integrating all the processes from the material level, we can achieve really high reliability based on data acquired from all the processes," said a spokesman of Rohm. "Technologically speaking, we've seen our way clear, so we have set forth full-fledged integration. Rohm will establish production systems for wafers from silicon ingot pulling up to the slicing, polishing and epitaxy...

European leaders gathering in Brussels are expected to agree to start EU accession talks with Turkey, at a summit which opens on Thursday. European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso has urged them to reject any half measures when they discuss the Turkish membership bid. Mr Barroso said if the EU was to start talks, it should be on full membership, with no last-minute conditions. But he urged Turkey to "go the extra mile" and recognise EU member Cyprus. Mr Barroso asked what kind of message Turkey was sending if it did not recognise all the members of the club it...