Negotiating Trade: Participation, Transparency, Representation, and the Mobilization of Resistance in Ecuador

Abstract

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the Andean Free Trade Agreement, for which negotiations began in May 2004 between the United States, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and proposes the need to thoroughly interrogate the negotiation process. Based on in-depth interviews, primary source data, and participant observation, I make the assertion that it is urgent to consider the process by which the trade agreement is negotiated, before engaging in an ideological debate about its potential outcomes. From the outset, the negotiation process of the Andean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) has been contested by a broad range of social actors in Ecuador for its non-transparency, and inadequacy in facilitating the participation of civil society. The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) has led the strongest opposition to the negotiation of the Andean Free Trade Agreement in Ecuador. CONAIE, alongside campesino and civil society organizations insist that there have been no legitimate opportunities built into the process to voice their concerns for the way in which the negotiations are being transacted, let alone analyze or criticize specific provisions contained within the proposed agreement. A broad cross-section of critics of the trade negotiation process have also called into question the capacity of the current government to adequately represent the majority. The Ecuadorean government makes the claim that they are dedicated to transparency and broad participation of all members of society in the negotiations. My research indicates that this negotiation further excludes Indigenous people and historically marginalized groups within Ecuador, yet has simultaneously catalyzed momentum to their struggle against neoliberalism and free trade.