A decade ago, President Clinton announced a target date to complete negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas. That date � January of 2005 � has been embraced repeatedly by President Bush.

Of course, once negotiations are completed and approved by heads of state then the measure must be presented to Congress (under "fast track" currently known as "Trade Promotion Authority") for an up or down vote. Proponents hope to obtain the requisite approvals of each nation�s legislative bodies during 2005 so that the agreement may actually be implemented by the end of the year.

Most importantly, the Bush administration is actively working toward that goal. In October of 2003, the official FTAA website noted: "The final phase of FTAA negotiations will be guided by the co-chairmanship of Brazil and the United States, and two [the 8th and 9th] meetings of the Ministers Responsible for Trade will be held, one in November 2003 in Miami, U.S.A., and one in 2004 in Brazil."

In a January 16, 2002 speech President George W. Bush declared:

"We�re working to build a Free Trade Area of the Americas, and we�re determined to complete those negotiations by January of 2005...." "We plan to complete a free trade agreement with Chile early this year. And once we conclude the agreement, I urge Congress to take it up quickly. And I ask the Senate to schedule a vote, as soon as it returns, on renewing and expanding the Andean Trade Preference Act. Today, I announce that the United States will explore a free trade agreement with the countries of Central America.... Our purpose is to strengthen the economic ties we already have with these nations � and to take another step toward completing the Free Trade Area of the Americas."

The FTAA architects are following exactly the same strategy that was employed in Europe in order to create what is now known as the European Union and is now widely recognized as a developing regional government.

The EU, recall, was once known as the "Common Market" and was once sold to unsuspecting Europeans as a "free trade" arrangement. The architects of world order view the Common Market-EU as the perfect model for NAFTA-FTAA � except that they hope to accomplish in several years� time with NAFTA-FTAA what has taken five decades with the Common Market-EU.

The Free Trade Area of the Americas has top priority among the internationalist Insiders whose influence has dominated every presidential administration since World War II. Reported disagreements among Latin American leaders and setbacks for the FTAA negotiations are often merely camouflage to conceal the orchestrated unity beneath the surface that the internationalists have achieved throughout this hemisphere. So Americans concerned over the FTAA threat to our independence cannot afford the luxury of expecting the agreement to stall on its own.