Good Walls Make Good Neighbors? Posted by Suzanne Nossel

Here at DA we've been taking note of what seems to be deteriorating U.S. relations with and influence among Latin and South America.

The latest is that Congress has now passed restrictive immigration legislation that would prevent illegal Mexican migrants from obtaining US drivers' licenses and authorize the construction of a wall on the US-Mexican border.  The Mexicans are irate.  The law wasn't Bush's idea but he evidently got behind it after seeing which way the winds were blowing in Congress.   

So this is what happens to the U.S.'s "good neighbor and friend"; the country tapped as the first beneficiary of Condi Rice's goodwill offensive after entering office earlier this year.  The move comes less than two months after Bush, Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin announced a new era of cooperation in North America.

Speaking of the hemisphere, Democrats are saying CAFTA, we don't hafta, and we won't.  The question is whether they will come forward with a viable plan to address the troubling workers' rights, environmental, and poverty-related issues that CAFTA and like agreements raise, so that we won't be stuck on the wrong side of the free trade issue for long.  This issue is on our homework assignment and we ought to get to it.

Comments

[rosignol]

The Mexicans are irate.

A lot of Americans are well past being merely 'irate'.

[The Indigent Blogger]

A "wall" is not being built, an existing fence is being completed. It's hard to oppose that considering that 200 border agents were shifted from San Diego to Arizona in response to the Minute Man Project.

I predicted that and the "vigilantes" comment would result in backlash legislation back in March.

http://vagabondia.blogspot.com/2005/03/border-and-immigration-policy.html

[praktike]

Trade agreements should be about trade and not about these other things; you're opening pandora's box for all these outside groups to come in and torch trade agreements nowadays.

[virginia]

Life begins at conception, begins at birth - Or come up with another stage and develop a different persuasive speech topic

[Patricia Arquette]

Today was a loss. I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters.