The proposal for a Free Trade Area of the Americas was launched publicly at the 1994 Summit of the Americas in Miami, attended by representatives of 34 nations in the Western Hemisphere (all except Cuba).

Proponents described the FTAA proposal as an enlargement of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico) to include all of the nations of Latin America (except Cuba). In a hard-fought battle, President Clinton had pushed NAFTA through Congress a year earlier.

FTAA supporters claimed the agreement would foster economic progress throughout the hemisphere by eliminating trade and investment obstacles between nations.

But the FTAA is actually an enormously deceptive power grab. The promise of increased economic prosperity is merely enticing but poisonous bait for a trap designed to hobble once-independent nations to an emerging hemispheric superstate, controlled by internationalists behind the scenes. For example, although the 1994 Miami Summit was presented to the public as a meeting between governments, it was entirely a David Rockefeller show. (See "What are the origins of the FTAA?," below.)

Already NAFTA reveals part of the deception. Instead of the promised free flow of commerce between individual Americans and their Canadian and Mexican neighbors, more than a score of bureaucratic commissions were established to regulate and control trade. The American people were assured that NAFTA would result in lower tariffs. But any nation that wants lower tariffs can accomplish that without creating more international agencies.

Outside the public limelight, FTAA proponents have admitted that their plan follows the path that was used to entice the nations of Europe into gradually submitting to the growing government of the European Union.

Under the planned FTAA, Americans will gradually lose control over their destiny, their property, their taxes, and they will lose the protection of their rights by the Bill of Rights. The FTAA, like the European Union, will eliminate the enforcement of national borders to foster the free flow of peoples, not just products. National borders will become like our state borders. The immigration problem will be solved, since there will be no more immigration, only migration of populations at will.

The internationalist proponents have no intention of laying their cards on the table � they know the patriotic American people would have nothing to do with creating a supranational organization that would eviscerate the Bill of Rights. The proponents have every reason to fear the outrage of an informed American public. Nevertheless, they are committed to their plans, with or without informed consent. And so they deceive.

More on the FTAA

What is the relationship of FTAA to NAFTA?

Does NAFTA/FTAA really promote free trade?

Who says that NAFTA and FTAA are more than trade pacts?

What is the real purpose of the FTAA?

What are the origins of the FTAA?

What is the timetable for the FTAA?

Why aren�t we told?

Can the FTAA be stopped?

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