US Wants to Isolate Venezuela with FTT

Lima, Apr 19 (Prensa Latina) Popular leaders denounced in this capital that the US wants to isolate the worthy and independent position of Venezuela with Free Trade Treaty (FTT) negotiations with Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The warning was made during the sessions of the Andean Forum, the alternative to the 9th round of discussions of these four governments prior to signing the FTT, which began in the Peruvian capital on Monday.

The Bolivarian Revolution defends its people, said Peruvian farmers" leader Wilder Sanchez, recalling that the government of Venezuela, a member of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), was the only one which refused to accept the US imposition to sign an FTT.

Professor Alan Fairlie, from the Peruvian Catholic University, said that the commercial element was not the essential objective of the US, that it was geopolitical, as CAN members represent only 0.2 percent of the total commercial exchange between the US and the rest of the world.

He said that one of the objectives is to isolate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who rejected FTT negotiations and keeps a sovereign policy. He pointed out that the US treats Brazil and the South Common Market (MERCOSUR) similarly, as MERCOSUR was formed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay to defend their national interests.

The Andean Forum is in parallel session to the 9th FTT Negotiation Round, with the attendance of delegates from the countries of the region, and will finish on Thursday with a march in Lima.