(Raúl Zibechi, upsidedownworld.org) The US failed to get consensus to move forward on its pet project of the "Free Trade Agreement of the Americas" at the Summit of the Americas in early November, due to opposition from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Venezuela. However it is not likely to stop the free trade jugernaut for long, as these nations remain deeply divided on trade issues themselves which have prevented the articulation of alternatives or the strengthening of alliances such as Mercosur.   more »

A Mini-Ministerial Green Room meeting at the WTO headquarters highlights the core fractures and key differences in the trade negotiations and results in both the lowering of expectations for the forthcoming Hong Kong Ministerial in December and the setting back of the proposed timetable.   more »

Two years ago, in the lead up to the WTO negotiations in Cancún 2003, the World Bank and various institutions predicted that developing countries would benefit in the region of $500 billion through the liberalization of trade. Now, in the lead up to the WTO negotiations in Hong Kong the predictions are more modest, with estimated benefits to developing countries no higher than $100 billion.   more »

(Wall Street Post) Summit of the Americas ends with major divisions on free trade, and strong opposition to advancing ALCA (Free Trade Agreement of the Americas) from Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Venezuela. It has cast a shadow on possibilities of advancing the "free trade" agenda at WTO meetings in December.   more »

The theme of investment is currently causing divisions amongst Andean countries in negotiations for the Andean Free Trade Agreement (TLC in Spanish) with Ecuador raising concerns about a new investment chapter after several bad experiences under an existing Bilateral Investment Treaty with the US.   more »