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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.
A Tit for Tat over Trucks AS/COA Online 03/20/09
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| Trucks at the U.S.-Mexico border. (AP Photo) |
A move by U.S. Congress to stop a cross-border trucking program drew a counterpunch from Mexico this week. The recently signed U.S. spending bill ended funding for a pilot program allowing Mexican trucks to transport cargo inside the United States and vice versa. With the program a long overdue part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexico chose to retaliate. The administration of Mexican President Felipe Calderón unveiled new tariffs for close to 90 industrial and agricultural products imported from the United States. Yet Washington announced a pair of high-profile visits to Mexico by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. President Barack Obama, opening the door to smooth the turbulence over trade and security issues.
As the tariffs were announced, Mexico’s Economy Secretary Gerardo Ruiz Mateos said that the now-suspended pilot program had been successful with no major safety incidents. He also said the cancellation of the program is “wrong, protectionist, and clearly violates the [NAFTA] treaty.” A Department of Transportation report found that Mexican truckers registered under the program met all 22 safety mandates demanded by U.S. Congress.
The duties, which went into effect on March 19, represent tariff increases of as much as 45 percent on $2.4 billion worth of exports, explains Sidney Weintraub of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in a Forbes.com editorial that breaks down the history of the trucking plan. The Mexican government carefully chose the products on the tariff list “to avoid pushing up prices of staples in Mexico while hitting goods that are important exports for a range of American states. That way, it could have maximum political effect north of the border,” The Economist explains. Wall Street Journal warns that Mexico can turn to other trading partners—Europe, Canada, and Latin America—to replace the U.S. brands. Total trade between Mexico and the United States stood at over $367 billion in 2008.
Trade and trucks are not the only matters troubling U.S.-Mexican relations at the moment. At AS/COA’s recent annual Mexico City conference, Calderón condemned remarks originating in the United States that question Mexico’s institutional strength in the face of violent organized crime. He raised concerns about U.S. drug consumption and arms smuggling and urged joint U.S.-Mexican action to fight drug cartels.
Given the tensions, the timing of the upcoming visits by Obama and Clinton could prove crucial to giving ties between the neighbors a boost. Appearing on National Public Radio’s “Diane Rehm Show,” COA’s Eric Farnsworth explained expects that this bump in trade relations won’t escalate “at a time when, I think, neither nation could afford it.”
Mexico’s El Universal takes a closer look at the trade rift and plans for Obama’s trip to Mexico in advance of April’s Summit of the Americas. Clinton’s visit next week will pave the way for Obama’s. Moreover, the appointment of former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk as the new U.S. Trade Representative gained congressional approval this week, just in time to tackle the problem. “It will be one gnarly challenge after the next for the new U.S. trade representative, starting with the trade war that erupted this week with Mexico,” says Dallas Morning News.
Some contend that killing plans for a trucking program will result in higher shipping costs. Bloomberg reports that what a truck could haul from one point in Mexico to another in the United States will take three different trucks and one extra day without the program. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics shows that the value of goods transported by truck between both countries rose to $234 billion last year. Mexico’s decision came as the World Bank raised alarm about protectionist measures undertaken by G20 members in the midst of the global financial crisis.
AS/COA hosts a program on March 24 in advance of the Obama and Clinton visits. Learn about the event, which will involve a panel videoconferenced in New York and Washington.
Read the article as originally posted 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.
Flat Tires at the Border AS/COA Online 03/27/08
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| Trucks at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego. (AP Images) |
Even as U.S. Democratic presidential candidates on the campaign trail reopen debate about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), debate between U.S. officials calls into question the future of a U.S.-Mexican cross-border trucking program. Six months into a one-year trial, detractors in U.S. Congress seek to dismantle the program. However, the U.S. Department of Transportation found that—halfway through the pilot—the program met all 22 safety mandates set out by Congress.
Nearly a decade and a half ago, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) required the United States to open its borders and all of its states to Mexican trucks by 2000. But protests by union leaders and safety groups raised concerns about a lack of oversight in terms of cargo inspections and background checks of Mexican truckers, hindering implementation of the trucking agreement. Initiated in September 2007, the pilot project sought to provide an entry point to meet provisions. In December 2007, Congress ended funding for and prohibited establishing cross-border trucking programs. The Transportation Department continued the pilot, arguing the programs were established prior to the December law and igniting a debate, not only with the Senate, but also with the Teamsters and environmental groups.
But while critics complain of concerns that the project does not provide enough oversight in terms of Mexican truckers on U.S. roads, reports by the Transportation Department find that U.S. truckers have benefited more from the program than their Mexican counterparts. At the six-month mark, only 18 out of 100 Mexican trucking companies expected to sign up had participated. Furthermore, U.S. carriers made nearly 700 cross-border trips as part of the project—more than double the trips made by Mexican truckers. “We should be looking for every opportunity to open new markets for our drivers,” said Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters, speaking March 25 at a Colorado meatpacking plant.
Mexico serves as the United States’ third largest trading partner behind Canada and China. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the 2007 U.S.-Mexico trade totaled for more than $347 billions, with commercial trucks moving about 70 percent of all goods. The Transportation Department estimates that the current system, which requires the transfering of most goods from the truck of one country to the other, costs U.S. consumers $400 million per year. A letter sent to Congress by 69 business organizations supports the cross-border program, stressing the importance of U.S.-Mexico trade in several sectors raging from electronics, textiles, food, and perishable goods.
A recent Iowa State University study calculated that more than 40,000 jobs in 17 U.S. states might be in peril if Mexico retaliates against the U.S. non-compliance of NAFTA. A recent San Diego Union-Tribune editorial criticizes attacks against the pilot project, saying critics have “resorted to xenophobia.”
In an op-ed for the Calgary Times, AS/COA President and CEO Susan Segal categorized NAFTA as “the most effective tool we have to increase trade among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.” Washington Post columnist Marcela Sanchez recommends that, rather than tinkering with NAFTA, the government should focus on promoting corporate social responsibility in Latin America.
Read the article as originally published at the AS/COA website.
Carlos Macías Web 