www.globeandmail.com By JOHN SAUNDERS and STEVEN CHASE Thursday, February 20, 2003 - Page B9

WASHINGTON and OTTAWA -- There are as many as 180,000 Canadian tax dollars at work in today's issue of The New York Times, where you will find a full-page ad from something called the U.S.-Canada Partnership for Growth, which gets most of its money indirectly from Ottawa but says it is not a Canadian government front.

The $125,000 (U.S.) ad, one of a series in U.S. newspapers and on U.S. television, seems at first glance to be about oil, but aims to persuade Americans to give Canada a break on trade in lumber. "Reliable energy. Right next door," it says, stressing that Canada and the United States are "steady allies" and that the United States gets more oil and natural gas from Canada than from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Mexico, Kuwait or any other country.

The main sponsors, not named in the ad, are the Canadian government and the Forest Products Association of Canada, which got a $17-million (Canadian) federal grant last year to run a two-year lumber information blitz. FPAC confirms that it is the "primary funder" of the ads, and Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade says it is given a chance to check and revise them before they run.

James Blanchard, formerly a Michigan governor and a U.S. ambassador to Canada, is one of the old Washington hands hired to serve as co-chairmen of the partnership.

"The idea very simply is that Americans generally have no idea of the magnitude of the trade with Canada and the jobs produced, and most people have very little idea of the incredible energy relationship with Canada," Mr. Blanchard said in an interview yesterday.

If people understood the situation, he said, they would see that there is no excuse for special U.S. import duties of 27 per cent on Canadian softwood lumber, which Washington alleges is unfairly subsidized through cheap provincial wood sales and dumped on the U.S. market.

"They've been seeing our TV ads and I have people come up to me and say, 'Do you know that we get more energy from Canada than anywhere? Do you know that?' They don't even know that I'm affiliated with the our Canada-U.S. Partnership for Growth."

The original ad in the series, run late last year, was a soft sell illustrated by a snapshot of two freckled-faced youngsters. "We grew up together," it said.

Another ad, scheduled for certain editions of USA Today tomorrow, is headed "Canada buys American." It points out that Canada is the United States's biggest trading partner and a major buyer of goods from Arizona or Pennsylvania or wherever.

Mr. Blanchard comes to the campaign as a consultant to Burson-Masteller, the giant New York public relations firm orchestrating the partnership's ad and lobby efforts. He said that his law firm receives a fee for his services as co-chairman but would not disclose the amount.

Mr. Blanchard said that some of the money going into the campaign is from the partnership's U.S. members, notably house builders, lumber retailers and others who stand to gain from lower lumber prices, but he declined to name the donors or to give a figure.

Communications director in the office of Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew, Sébastien Théberge, said: "It is true that there is a competition for attention in the United States media to reach the American public and we believe we have a role to play in ensuring that the average American, as well as media and politicians in Washington and New York have a clear understanding of the importance of this two-way relationship."

news.ft.com By John Authers, Raymond Colitt and Richard Lapper Published: February 20 2003 4:00 | Last Updated: February 20 2003 4:00

US President George W. Bush seems to be succeeding in forging Latin American unity of an unwelcome kind. Opposition to possible US and British military action against Iraq is growing across the region.

"There is not a lot of sympathy or support [for the US]," says Michael Shifter, director of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue policy forum. "Most Latin American governments are totally baffled by it. All the Latin Americans I know say 'are you guys really going to do this?'."

Of most concern to Washington is that the two Latin countries, Mexico and Chile, which are among 10 elected members of the United Nations Security Council are showing little enthusiasm for US and British efforts to win support for speedy military action against Iraq.

Mexico's President Vicente Fox has been actively pushing an independent position. An outspoken critic of war, he welcomed the peace protests that took place in a number of international capitals last weekend. "It is extraordinary that people have demonstrated like this. It is the way to stop the war," he said.

Brazil, which will replace Mexico on the Security Council next year, has also been engaged in diplomacy designed to give more time to the UN weapons inspections. It has aligned itself with proposals made by Germany, France and Russia that sought to increase time and resources for inspectors in Iraq.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been seeking to stiffen the resolve of his Latin American counterparts. Brazil's foreign minister, Celso Amorim, has been in Moscow this week to underscore Brazil's support for diplomatic efforts to avoid war.

Several factors underpin the defiant mood. First, public opinion polls show that Latin Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to war.

According to recent research conducted by Latinobarómetro, a Santiago-based polling firm, 85 per cent of Chileans are opposed to war.

Similar polls by the same organisation showed that on average 57 per cent of Latin Americans opposed the invasion of Afghanistan, with that number rising to 80 per cent in Argentina.

Marta Lagos, the director of Latinobarómetro, notes a broader growth in anti-US sentiment across the region.

"You will find in most countries that many people have reasons to be anti-American," she says. "People like American culture and lifestyle but the US is perceived as not being helpful towards the region."

There are worries that a war, especially if it proves to be drawn out, will worsen financial and economic pressures and delay recovery. If war adds to, rather than reduces, uncertainty in the financial and commodity markets, investors could become even less enthusiastic than they are at present. The resulting rise in "risk aversion" could lead to weakness in currencies and may force governments to increase interest rates.

In the past few weeks, fears of war have set back the recovery in Brazil's financial markets.

"Brazil is concerned with the economic aspects of a possible war," says Mr Amorim. "We have to explore all solutions for Iraq. Brazil cannot watch passively, waiting to see what will happen. The consequences of war for emerging markets would be immediate."

Several countries, including Chile and the smaller Caribbean and Central American nations, would also be particularly vulnerable to the increase in oil prices that might result from damage to Iraqi fields. Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela are exporters, while Brazil produces about 80 per cent of its domestic oil requirements.

But all of this has to be offset against economic realities and, in particular, the enormous leverage that Washington has over many Latin American economies. The US is an important trading partner and a dominant influence in the International Monetary Fund and other multilaterals, on whose support much of the region depends.

Diplomats say efforts to develop a joint position through the Rio Group, which links 18 Latin American countries, have already stumbled against the extreme economic dependency of smaller Central American countries. Ultimately, economics could force some of the bigger players into the US camp.

Both Latin American Security Council members have close US ties. Chile recently agreed a free trade deal with the US that has still to be ratified by the US Congress. Mexico channels 90 per cent of its exports to the US and is keen to preserve intact its relationship with its neighbour and the benefits it has enjoyed through the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).

Significantly, although Mexico and Chile favour more time for diplomatic actions, they are also reluctant to side openly with France and Germany and want to avoid confrontation with the US.

In Mexico City, some critics of the government see efforts to forge an independent position as flying in the face of political realities. Luis Rubio, a Mexico City-based political analyst, says that the government must recognise these strategic realities. "Obviously we could vote against but sooner or later the consequences would be brutal," he says. Additional reporting by John Authers in Mexico City and Raymond Colitt in Sa{~} o Paulo.

www.worldtrademag.com Posted on: 02/17/2003 Tony Seideman

The Columbus Pacific in the Port of San Antonio, Chile. (Communication Resource Management)

Transportation providers understand how a country operates in an intimate, detailed and often devastating way. They see up close whether corruption or commitment to quality and efficiency dominates government operations. They know from hands-on, sometimes painful experience whether an infrastructure works for a country or against its future.

In few regions is this reality truer than South America. While some pundits have described South America as a continent slipping rapidly into chaos and dysfunction, its economies stunted and its potential thrown away, carriers with on-the-ground experience say the reality is far different.

"US-South American trade is quite viable and continues to grow," says Allen Clifford, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Mediterranean Shipping Co. (USA) Inc. Although some South American countries are facing vast, seemingly insurmountable challenges, others have dramatically altered the way they operate in ways both small and large. The question is whether the countries that have reshaped themselves to conduct business more effectively will be able to withstand the economic stress caused by other nations that are experiencing crippling difficulties.

Two nations are currently garnering kudos from carriers and other economic experts, while two others seem to be battling hard for the bottom slot. Brazil and Chile have won plaudits from carriers and economists alike for the changes they've made in their regulatory policies, physical infrastructures and worldview in recent years, while Venezuela and Argentina are both seen as wasting abundant opportunities and resources both human and physical. And, while Brazil and Chile have both taken a number of specific steps to win their accolades, each needs to do a great deal more work.

Brazil's steps include increasing the efficiency of its regulatory apparatus, privatization, and modernizing its ports. The country has faced problems with inefficient structures and its tax system. To its credit, Brazil went through a number of economic and political reforms.

"They opened their industries up to international competition," says Doug Webster, spokesperson for Hamburg Sud North America. One positive result of Brazil's efforts is that the country now has a trade surplus of $13 billion U.S.

Chile's biggest advance is embodied in its embrace of the first free trade agreement any South American nation has made with a North American neighbor.

"More than 85 percent of bilateral trade in consumer and industrial products became immediately tariff-free. About three-quarters of both U.S. and Chilean farm goods will be tariff-free within four years," the American Association of Port Authorities says in a statement about the agreement.

While some South American countries are doing well, others are in deep trouble. Venezuela's situation is so difficult some major carriers have temporarily ceased calling on its ports, while Argentina's decline is reflected not just in its local economy, but in a radical drop in its trade with the outside world as well.

Argentina's financial problems are having a strong impact on trade, Webster notes. "There was a time when Argentina's ports were moving well over 1 million TEUs a year. This year, they're moving six-hundred thousand," he says. Prompt resolution of the country's difficulties is unlikely, he adds. "Not a lot is going to happen until Argentina goes through a set of elections which are now scheduled for some time this spring."

Ocean carriers are confident enough in South America's strength to be adding new capacity to lanes serving the continent. "An indication of MSC's commitment to this trade are the enhancements made to its East Coast South America service made in late October," Clifford says. " MSC now offers all water service from Miami and New Orleans to a select number of ports in South America, which means improved transit times and more space available for shipments," he says.

Hamburg Sud is also making investments in new services and capacity. "Our long term view is that the area is a region that has real prospects for trade improvement," says Webster.

www.charlotte.com Posted on Sun, Feb. 16, 2003 KEVIN G. HALL Knight Ridder

LA PAZ, Bolivia - regime in trouble The Bolivian government Saturday said it would ask the Organization of American States to investigate the presence of snipers in two days of violence that left at least two dozen dead and caused millions of dollars in damage in the poor Andean nation.

Government spokesman Mauricio Antesana said Saturday the OAS would be asked to form a special investigations commission through the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. That OAS body, he said, would be seen as neutral and independent and would serve as an honest broker between the government and its opponents.

The OAS has 35 member nations in North and South America, including the United States. This is the latest case of the OAS being drawn into a domestic dispute where local institutions lacked credibility. It has tried to mediate a solution to Venezuela's political and economic stalemate, and was involved in Peru's 2001 transition to democracy.

In Bolivia, the OAS would be asked to address concerns of human-rights groups that said military sharpshooters fired off rooftops at demonstrators and police on Wednesday.

Striking police officers refused to stop demonstrators who attacked the presidential residence and set three government ministries ablaze, as well as city hall in El Alto, a poor suburb of the capital, La Paz. The government continues to investigate who fired first in what became a bloody shootout between police and soldiers.

The government also wants the OAS to investigate what Antesana said may have been a coup attempt. Shots were fired from a high-caliber weapon into the president's bedroom and office in the palace in La Paz, he said.

Bolivia's tumult, in which 29 people died, began when the government on Monday announced a 12 percent income tax hike affecting mainly the middle class. The tax was part of an International Monetary Fund recipe for lowering Bolivia's swelling budget deficit.

President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada's decision to withdraw plans for the tax increase only brought tenuous peace. The roots of the problem, a deepening economic crisis and an energetic opposition, remain ever-present and signal more trouble for a leader who won the presidency with only 22.5 percent of the vote.

"He's got a big, serious problem," said Eduardo Gamarra, an expert on Bolivia at Miami's Florida International University. "He has 4 1/2 years left in his term. How is he going to last 4 1/2 years?"

Bolivia is isolated and poor, with just 8.3 million people, but the ramifications are enormous if Sanchez de Lozada is forced out. He is not the only president in Latin America facing politically destabilizing street protests.

"I think this sets a very disturbing precedent," said Michael Shifter, who tracks Latin American politics for the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue. The New York Times contributed to this article.

www.ipsnews.net Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 15 (IPS) - Thousands upon thousands of protesters throughout Latin America took to the streets to express their opposition to a potential U.S.-led war on Iraq, finding unique ways to repudiate Washington, which many peace activists accuse of trying to take control of the Arab country's oil reserves. With marches, forums, dances, costumes and drums, across the region -- in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela -- people came together for a day of mobilisation for peace, an effort that encompassed 603 cities around the globe. In Latin America, Saturday was marked by harsh criticism of U.S. foreign policy as that country seeks a green light from the international community -- and through the United Nations -- to invade Iraq. "The world is mobilising against (U.S. President George W.) Bush and against war," summarised labour leader Víctor De Genaro, of the CTV, one of Argentina's main trade unions, during a march of thousands of people in Buenos Aires that ended outside the U.S. embassy. The protest march, which took place under an intense summer rainstorm, was also organised by human rights groups, student associations, leftist parties and groups related to the World Social Forum. Argentine Nobel Peace Laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel said the war that Bush is seeking against Iraq is not aimed at neutralising terrorism, as the U.S. president's speeches indicate, but rather "is an attempt to take over the world's energy sources," and is encouraging intolerance and hate. "Bush is trying to gain control of Iraq's petroleum reserves," asserts environmental activist Martín Prieto, director of Greenpeace-Argentina. Greenpeace joined the Buenos Aires protest Saturday with one of its members wearing a Bush mask and a sign identifying him as "the oil villain", and surrounded by placards reading "They Kill for Oil". The call for a day of peace rallies was formalised at the latest World Social Forum, held in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre in late January. The Forum has become the core of the international movement that opposes the current process of economic globalisation. Brazil also saw thousands of people come out to demonstrate in favour of peace. Major anti-war events took place in Brasilia, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and at least 15 other cities. Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo reported the most numerous rallies, with 20,000 to 30,000 people in each, according to organisers. The Brazilian protests were marked by vivid colours and a vast array of masks and costumes, and included the participation of union leaders, leftist parties, the MST landless peasant movement, and numerous officials, encouraged to take part by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva himself, and his leftist Workers Party (PT). Worried about the effects on the region of an eventual war in Iraq, Lula on Friday contacted presidents Eduardo Duhalde (Argentina), Ricardo Lagos (Chile) and Lucio Gutiérrez (Ecuador) to propose an emergency meeting of South American foreign ministers in order to study the matter. In Uruguay, meanwhile, activists and citizens had a jump-start on the anti-war protests, holding one of Latin America's most numerous rallies on Friday night -- some 70,000 strong --, according to organisers. Though El Observador newspaper put the total at 20,000. The march in Montevideo, convened by the opposition leftist coalition known as the Broad Front, the labour union, and student, environmental and human rights organisations, followed the main avenue from Liberty Plaza to the state-run University of the Republic. There, a 10-year-old girl read a proclamation for peace, as well as a letter by world-renowned Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano, a leader in the peace campaign. "The key to what is occurring with Iraq is petroleum, just as it is in the Venezuelan crisis," the writer said in an interview with a Buenos Aires radio station. "We should ask ourselves why this Mr. Oil is so poorly behaved and is capable of overthrowing governments, triggering wars, poisoning water and the air to sustain consumption," Galeano said. The Cuban capital saw a protest Saturday of some 5,000 workers and students, convened by the government to speak out against war. The event was presided by the minister of "revolutionary" armed forces, Rául Castro, President Fidel Castro's brother. In Chile, some two-dozen organisations staged an anti-war march in Santiago, ending outside La Moneda, the presidential palace. There, activists burned a scarecrow, symbolising Bush, and a U.S. flag. Additional protests took place throughout the country, in Temuco, La Serena, Valparaíso and Concepción. The peace march organisers said they hope to maintain pressure on the Lagos government, as Chile is a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, where the current debate on Iraq's disarmament is taking place. Friday, Chile's foreign minister Soledad Alvear reiterated before the council Chile's desire for a peaceful way out of the crisis. Activists from ATTAC-Chile (Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens) told IPS that if there is a war, they will call for a boycott on products imported from the United States. "Because the root motivation to attack and dominate Iraq is related to controlling its oil reserves, we suggest focusing the boycott on fuel," says ATTAC. In Mexico, neighbour and trade partner of the United States and also a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, a march of some 15,000 people took place under the slogan "No to the imperialist war!" According to a telephone poll conducted last month by the daily Reforma, 83 percent of Mexicans consulted said they were against a U.S.-led war on Iraq. Guatemalan Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchú commented in a conversation with IPS that "war will impoverish all Latin Americans," and she added that the motive behind the tensions is petroleum. "We must stop the madness of Bush, of (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair, and (Spanish Prime Minister) José María Aznar," stated Menchú. Even Venezuela, in spite of its own profound political crisis, had its anti-war protest, a march through Caracas organised by civil society groups under the theme "Not a drop of oil for the war." In Paraguay, the traditional February carnival in the southern city of Encarnación had a touch of the international anti-war protest. Saturday afternoon, a caravan of activists travelled through the city with a large white banner and broadcasting over loudspeakers the song "Imagine", invoking the song of the murdered former Beatle, John Lennon, now a hymn of peace. (END/IPS/LA/IP/TRA-SO LD/MV/DCL/03) (END/2003)