Abstract
The "Enterprise for the Americas Initiative" was designed to incorporate Latin America into a system of global trade while addressing the region's need for environmental protection. Will the goal of trade liberalization undermine the Initiative's ability to contribute to sustainable development? This paper discusses the concept of sustainability as it relates to future development strategy. It also examines two threats to the implementation of sustainable development: first, from globalization of trade institutionalized by the EAI, and second, from GATT measures designed to buttress policy programs such as the EAI and NAFTA. Using applied notions of sustainable development, the Initiative's provisions—international standardization of trade regulations, open investment, debt accompanied by conditionality, and the Environmental Fund—are reviewed on the basis of their impact on environmental and social stability.
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