George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography - Get a Free Blog

Washington on April 7, 1991, and Bush once again called for free trade with Mexico:
"My administration is committed totally to the free trade agreement with Mexico and
Canada," said Bush. "It is priority for the United States, the US government."
Then there was the Uruguay round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The
goal of the Bushmen in in the GATT talks was to press forward towards what Bush called
"global free trade;" all nations were to be coerced into giving up their inherent sovereign
rights to intervene in favor of their own farmers, industrialists, and other producers. An
important aspect of this thrust was the Anglo-American demand that the European
Community dismantle its system of payments to farmers. In October, at the UN, Bush
would press for the completion of GATT: "The Uruguay Round offers hope to
developing nations. I cannot stress enough...History shows that protectionism can destroy
wealth within countries and poison relations between them.
Bush demanded from the US Congress the ability to negotiate both GATT and NAFTA
on a "fast track" basis. This meant that Bush wanted to be able to negotiate vital
international trade agreements, and then submit them to Congress on an all-or-nothing,
take-it-or-leave-it basis. The Congress could make no amendments nor add statements of
clarification; such rubber-stamping would undermine the right of the senate to provide
advice and consent in treaties. There was considerable resistance in Congress to the fast
track for NAFTA and GATT, and this was backed up by the rank and file of the AFL-
CIO trade unions, who did not wish to see their jobs exported. But the chances for
stopping the fast track in the summer of 1991 were ruined by the defection of Missouri
Congressman Richard Gephardt, whose ties to organized labor were strong, but who
neverthless came out in favor of the fast track on May 9. Gephardt had clashed with Bush
during 1989, when Bush was recorded in the congressional press gallery as complaining
"I tell you, I'm displeased with Gephardt, the way he made it so really kind of personal."
But during 1990, Gephardt had settled into the Bush Democrat mould, except for some
opposition to Bush's war policy in the Gulf. By 1991, Gephardt was in Bush's pocket.
The fast track cleared Congress on May 23.
Bush sought to extend the zone of "free trade" looting ever southward. In mid-June, the
Brazilian President Collor de Mello came to the White House, where Bush greeted him as
"my kind of guy." Collor, like Salinas, was anxious to dissolve national sovereignty into
a "free market." The discussion revolved around reducing trade barriers between the
future NAFTA and the Southern Common Market of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and
Uruguay. Collor also pledged to preserve the Amazon rain forest, a demand that was
becoming the focus of the UN's "Eco '92" conference set to take place in Brazil. Shortly
after this, Bush would hold a Rose Garden ceremony to celebrate the triumphant progress
of his Enterprise for the Americas free trade steamroller since its inception one year
before.
Continuing violence was the staple of the New World Order. Elections in India were
scheduled for late May, and the likely victor was Rajiv Gandhi, whose mother had been
assassinated by Anglo-American intelligence in 1984. Rajiv Gandhi, during his time in
the opposition, had experienced a remarkable process of personal maturation. During the