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Canadá a Mexico: Votre visa s’il vous plaît! (Su visa por favor)
El gobierno de Canadá acaba de anunciar que a partir de Julio 14 del 2009 los ciudadanos Mexicanos deberán solicitar una visa para poder visitar a ese país. A primera vista, el anuncio parece normal dadas las duras condiciones económicas en un país en recesión como Canadá. Por lo general, los legisladores de cualquier país con ese dilema usualmente tratan de restringir la cuota de refugiados y mano de obra extranjera que aceptan cada año. Pero el número de peticiones no alcanza ni los 10 mil por año en un país de 33 millones de habitantes y con un bajo crecimiento poblacional que solo alcanzó el 1.1 por ciento en el ultimo cuatrienio. Y entonces que onda carnal, que pasa? Parece que el estigma del narcotráfico y la violencia les esta causando a los Mexicanos daños irreparables en su imagen a nivel global.
Las autoridades Canadienses insisten que la decisión se fundamenta solo en los problemas de presupuesto de su programa de refugiados. Es cierto que el número de solicitudes de asilo por parte de Mexicanos se ha casi triplicado, de 3,400 solicitudes in el 2005, a 9,400 en el 2008. El periódico El Universal de México en su editorial del Junio 15 explica que gracias a los controles que los Estados Unidos ha implementado en su frontera sur, el buscar asilo político en Canadá se convirtió en una válvula de escape tanto para gente buscando mejores oportunidades de trabajo tanto como para delincuentes. “Sin embargo, no alcanza a ser creíble que el tema de los refugiados haya sido el único motivo para adoptar esta drástica medida. La otra explicación…se halla en el robustecimiento de los nexos entre las pandillas canadienses dedicadas al tráfico de drogas y los cárteles mexicanos, en particular con la organización encabezada por Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán,” agrega ese diario.
Los efectos de la guerra sin cuartel que libra el estado Mexicano en contra de los carteles de la droga se sienten con fuerza en las ciudades Canadienses. El periódico The Globe and Mail reportó en Marzo pasado, que las agencias Canadienses de inteligencia reconocían a los carteles Mexicanos de la droga como una amenaza a su seguridad nacional. Además, programas bilaterales como la Iniciativa Mérida ha interrumpido el flujo normal de abastecimiento de drogas en el Norte del continente. Un reporte de la firma global de inteligencia Stratfor asegura que los precios callejeros de las drogas en Canadá se han disparado, causando tensiones entre bandas criminales y abastecedores, resultando en mas muertes de las que las autoridades locales pueden controlar.
Dos cosas importantes que aclarar. Primero, los carteles Mexicanos no son los únicos que operan en suelo Canadiense. Allí tambien operan la mafia Rusa, la mafia Asiática, y pandillas Centroamericanas entre otras. Segundo, los Estados Unidos tambien son culpables en gran parte del deterioro de la seguridad en ciudades como Vancouver o Toronto. Las pocas regulaciones al mercado de armas de ese país hace que sea muy fácil que pistolas y rifles de alto calibre sean comercializadas en el mercado negro y lleguen a manos delictivas tanto al norte como al sur de sus fronteras. Ese flujo ilegal de armas alimenta el número de muertos y aviva el sentimiento anti-inmigrante entre los nativos.
La medida ha causado revuelo en Canadá dado que los turistas mexicanos sobrepasan los 266,000 por año. En los últimos cinco años, Toronto ha recibido mas visitas de mexicanos que de japoneses o alemanes. El columnista Jim Creskey del magazine de política exterior canadiense Embassy explica que el problema no reside en el número de solicitudes de asilo, el problema radica en el tortuoso e ineficaz sistema migratorio de Canadá. “Bajos de personal, con pocos fondos, culpables si dejan entrar a alguien no deseado, y con poco tiempo para tomar las decisiones correctas, los oficiales de inmigración viven en un constante estado de incertidumbre,” dice el columnista. Al contrario, el periódico Calgary Herald aplaudió la medida aduciendo que la mayoría de refugiados mexicanos buscan trabajo y no huyen de persecución política o torturas por parte del estado. Además dice que los contribuyentes canadienses pierden alrededor de 29,000 dólares por cada petición de asilo fraudulenta.
Cabe resaltar que México era el único país de Latinoamérica que no necesitaba visa para entrar a Canadá y es un socio comercial estratégico para el gobierno de Ottawa. Bajo el Tratado de Libre Comercio de Norte América (NAFTA) el intercambio comercial entre los dos países alcanzó en el 2008 los $26.2 billones de dólares. Una medida similar fue extendida para los ciudadanos de la República Checa, causando tensiones con la comunidad europea.
The Americas 2008: A Year in Retrospective AS/COA Online 12/23/08
View a slideshow of the most compelling events in the hemisphere. Also, read an article by AS/COA Online Managing Editor Carin Zissis on the most riveting events affecting the Americas in 2008.
Click the image to watch the photo gallery.
Americas’ Security Cooperation Revisited AS/COA Online 09/05/08
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| Brazilian Supertucanos in a military demonstration earlier this year. (AP Images) |
Officials from 34 countries gather at the VIII Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas held in Banff, Canada, from September 2 to the 6. The central premise of the summit—first held in 1995—revolves around “confidence-building through cooperation and collaboration.” This year, topics include peacekeeping support in places like Haiti and generating security assistance for events such as the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada. A recent event hosted by the Council of the Americas examined how the ministerial filled a void by allowing defense counterparts from countries across the Western Hemisphere to interact and thereby readied to cooperate in times of natural disasters or political disputes. Yet speakers at the COA meeting also raised a critique that the summit had yet to provide results beyond introductions and interactions.
This year’s summit comes at a crucial moment when several nations in the Western Hemisphere are beefing up their defense capabilities, enacting regional defense cooperation treaties, and when some intend to boost their status as weapon suppliers. Setting the example as host, Canada revealed its 20-year, $490 billion “Canada First Defense Strategy,” a detailed plan to modernize its armed forces and its military industry. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates also delivered a speech highlighting ongoing cooperation programs such as the recently approved Merida Initiative involving a U.S.-Mexico-Central America partnership to fight drug-related violence, Caribbean Community efforts to improve security on their waters, and the proposed South American Defense Council. “We have a collective dream: a free, prosperous, and secure hemisphere. By working together, we can transform that dream into reality and embrace the great promise and potential of the Americas,” added Gates.
Just two months ago, the United States reactivated its Fourth Naval Fleet drawing mixed reactions from South American leaders calling to establish a defense council to safeguard the region’s biodiversity and, more importantly, its hefty energy reserves. During a speech at AS/COA’s Latin American Cities Conference in São Paulo on July 10, U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Clifford Sobel raised the fact that some had suggested the fleet could have more aggressive purposes. “Let me be very clear. Let me use this forum to say it is not true,” asserted Sobel, saying the fleet will have no offensive capabilities and will instead serve to provide humanitarian support during natural disasters.
Using cash flow from the booming commodities markets, countries such as Brazil, Chile, and Venezuela have been modernizing their militaries. Brazil has doubled its military expenditure since the year 2000, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, and reached an agreement with France to get the necessary technology to start building nuclear submarines in 2009. Blogger Sam Logan points out that Brazil—with plans to expand its ammunition industry—serves as South America’s champion arms supplier, selling army vehicles to Bolivia, and Supertucano planes to Colombia and Chile.
Meanwhile, Chile purchased 340 German tanks, frigates, submarines, and more than two dozen F-16 fighters. Venezuela also inked a deal with Russia this past July worth more than $3 billion, represented in Sukhoi fighters, helicopters, and air-defense missile systems.
Some analysts remain skeptical about the utility of the conference. Ray Walser of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, criticizes the lack of strategic and diplomatic meaning of the summit and suggests that effective partnerships require “actual friends and genuine partners.” While holding Caracas responsible for causing rifts, Walser also charges Washington with “inflicting serious wounds to our hemispheric relationships” by failing to approve a trade pact with Colombia or drop a tariff on Brazilian ethanol.
Read the article as originally published at the AS/COA website.
Canada’s Latin American Ties AS/COA Online 06/12/08
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| Chilean President Bachelet and Canadian Prime Minister Harper met this week in Ottawa. |
In the last month, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s administration has scored major commercial deals with Peru and Colombia, and celebrated its successful Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Chile. Harper’s administration has pursued a policy of reengagement with Latin America, seeking to support development in the region. “The Canadian experience shows that, over the long term, there is really no better way to boost living standards than with free trade, ” Harper said in a November 2007 interview with Americas Quarterly.
During this week’s visit by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to Canada, the two leaders celebrated the tenth anniversary of the countries’ bilateral FTA and signed additional agreements. Harper called the pact a “a model of successful partnership in our hemisphere.” Trade in goods between Chile and Canada grew 226 percent over the past decade, reaching $2.34 billion last year. In an effort to replicate the Canadian-Chilean success, Harper¹s government is betting on new deals with other Latin American countries.
Peru’s new FTA with Canada, signed on May 29, has supported the Andean country’s growing presence in global markets by securing a commercial partner to maintain its enviable GDP growth: 9.2 percent in the first quarter of 2008 alone. It is expected that Canadian agricultural and beef industries will gain immediate access to Peruvian markets. On the flip side, Peruvian dairy products, poultry, and refined sugar will enter Canada almost duty-free.
Canada and Colombia have also moved toward solidifying their trade partnership. Officials from both countries completed negotiating an FTA on June 7. The deal must be ratified by legislative bodies from both countries in order to take effect. If the deal wins approval, Colombian farmers will benefit with tariff reductions on products including beef, flowers, sugar, and ethanol.
The completed negotiations come at a time when a U.S.-Colombia trade pact has stalled in U.S. Congress. Although U.S. markets have historically been the main recipients of Latin American exports, obstacles to the passage of U.S. trade deals in recent months—including with Colombia and Panama—opens the door for Canada to improve ties with Latin America. As the Financial Times reports, “While Washington’s efforts to make trade inroads in Latin America have stumbled lately, Canada has quietly moved to steal a march.”
Ottawa hopes to become less reliant on the slowing U.S. economy. After a weak first quarter performance in 2008—including growing unemployment, negative GDP growth, and rising inflation—Canada has more motives than ever to strengthen commercial ties with new hemispheric partners and is exploring FTAs with Panama, the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean Community, and the Central American Four (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua).
Read the article as originally published at the AS/COA website.
Leaders Stand Up for NAFTA AS/COA Online 04/22/08
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| North American leaders at the New Orleans’ summit. (AP Images) |
With a race for the White House in full swing and dominated by issues that hinge on North American relations—including trade policy, immigration, and border security—the leaders of Canada, the United States, and Mexico met in New Orleans for the April 21 and 22 North American Leaders’ Summit.
In response to recent criticism of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by Democratic presidential candidates, U.S. President George Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón praised the trade pact. Harper called NAFTA “our best option to create jobs and compete effectively” while Calderón said the agreement created jobs in Mexico that helped slow emigration to the United States. Bush voiced support for NAFTA and also argued for passage of bilateral deals with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. The North American Competitiveness Council presented a report—called Meeting the Global Challenge—voicing concern about recent isolationist rhetoric and providing recommendations to improve border management.
Information released by the White House in advance of the meeting emphasized the benefits of NAFTA: Canada serves as the United States’ number one trading partner while Mexico ranks third; combined three-way trade reached $930 billion last year and will likely hit $1 trillion by the end of 2008. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, John Engler of the National Association of Manufacturers takes on the argument that a trade deficit between the United States and its NAFTA partners has led to job losses; he points out that the deficit relates largely to energy imports and not manufactured goods. On C-SPAN’s Washington Journal COA’s Vice President Eric Farnsworth explains that, “For what NAFTA was designed to do, it’s been a success.” He describes the treaty as a “living document” that’s frequently revised by the three countries to make improvements.
In addition to NAFTA, regional security emerged as a paramount issue; Calderón emphasized the importance of bolstering security along the U.S.-Mexican border and applauded recent efforts by the Bush administration to halt arm smuggling and illegal crossings. Bush, in turn, lauded praised Calderón’s anti-drug efforts and encouraged Congress to approve the proposed Merida Initiative, a $1.4 billion project that aims to fight gangs, drug trafficking, and human smuggling in Mexico and Central America. A Brooking Institute analysis takes a closer look at how U.S. national security policy has shifted its attention to transnational crime in Latin America. At a recent AS/COA roundtable, Assistant Secretary of State David T. Johnson of the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs discussed the Merida Initiative.
Calderón also raised the issues of immigration, bringing attention to the contribution of Mexican immigrants in the rebuilding of New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He emphasized the importance of finding a solution to the question of immigration reform “with respect and responsibility.” The U.S. presidential cycle has coincided with an upswing in anti-immigrant rhetoric and a patchwork of state immigration laws in the United States. The shift toward immigration crackdowns may be having an economic impact; according to the World Bank, remittances slowed down (PDF) last year for the first time since they began being tracked tracked, affecting recipients in Latin America.
In an op-ed for the Calgary Times, AS/COA President Susan Segal highlights NAFTA as “the most effective tool we have to increase trade among the United States, Canada, and Mexico.” AS/COA Online takes a closer look at the remittance slowdown as well as Calderón’s support for Mexican immigrants during his January visit to the United States.
Read the article as originally published at the AS/COA website.
Carlos Macías Web 