Rosa or Coca…not a vote to sniff at!
The following comes from a June 14th advertisement published in The Hill of Washington, a congressional newspaper that publishes daily when Congress is in session, and has a special focus on business, lobbying, and political campaigns.
I think it might better be taken in the context that it is coming from what might be viewed as a leftist regime that is quick to condemn the US as it rather quickly moves towards a Cuban-and Venezuelan- style tyranny. While we most likely want to help Ecuador’s private sector we must understand that Rafael Correa is likely to emulate Chavez and trash it anyway. While Correa is demanding access to the worlds greatest market he refuses to give the US much access to the Ecuadorian market. I am sure that the US oil interests represented by Occidental have their own spin on all this as they witnessed the seizure of their operations under the guise of their being viewed as “yanqui imperialism”. Mr Correa seems to want it every which way but equitable as he trys to salvage billions in trade and 350,000 of his countrymen’s jobs. Even if the trade pact might ultimately fail the US will still end up with imports…other than either roses or cocain…Illegal immigrants, voting with their feet.
A rose is a rose, except when it is all that stands between the US and the illegal drug trade.Thanks to the Andean Trade Preferences and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), Ecuador is the only country in the region with zero coca cultivation. That is because Ecuadoreans enjoy something that most poor countries lack—jobs.
Since 1991, ATPDEA in Ecuador alone has created 350,000 jobs in thousands of local businesses that export legal agricultural products like vegetables and, yes, roses to the US, benefiting not just the local economy but the more than 100 American companies that work and invest in Ecuador.
Without ATPDEA, these rural workers could be forced into a far less savory enterprise—coca farming—rolling back the advances against drug-trafficking. ATPDEA is the most effective weapon in the war on drugs. It’s a big deal to Ecuador and a good deal for the United States. We urge Congress to move quickly to extend this Act.
ATPDEA. Good for us. Good for the US .