North American leaders wrapped up a two-day summit here on Tuesday, trumpeting consumer protections and other joint efforts, while dismissing charges of plotting to erode national sovereignty.
The trilateral talks were "as cordial as they were constructive," said host Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, flanked by US President George W. Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon at a closing press conference.
Canada, the US and Mexico are "independent and interdependent," Harper said. "And we're committed to working together on mutual security, continued economic growth and expanding our unique North American relationship."
The partnership was launched at the first "Three Amigos" summit in Waco, Texas, in March 2005, but has been attacked by activists, labor groups and academics critical of its business focus.
A perceived lack of openness in the negotiations has also provoked the ire of anti-globalization activists, environmentalists, peace activists and civil rights groups -- united in their suspicions of the outcome.
In response, the Canadian prime minister quipped: "A couple of my opposition leaders have speculated on massive water diversions and superhighways on the continent, maybe interplanetary."
And he jabbed at, for example, the different rules for jelly bean contents in Canada and the US, saying: "Is the sovereignty of Canada going to fall apart if we standardize the jelly bean? I don't think so."
The meeting, the third installment of the Security and Prosperity Partnership framework, was aimed at harmonizing rules on trade and security across North America.
Canada, the US and Mexico already form a trading bloc under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). But some academics have called for even greater integration to compete with burgeoning China, India and the EU.
"If you're a US citizen, you want people that live close to you to be prosperous. The more prosperity in your neighborhood, the more hopeful your neighborhood is," Bush said.
NAFTA "has created a lot of political controversy in our respective countries," he conceded, but it "has yielded prosperity."
Trilateral trade had surged from US$293 billion per year to US$883 billion a year, since 1994, he said.
Calderon went further, saying: "We must relaunch in a stronger way the strength of the relationship between the three countries of North America.
"I think this meeting could be the beginning of a new age in the framework of the relationship of the three countries," he said.
The three leaders agreed on joint consumer aegis, following recent recalls of toys, dog food and toothpaste, and growing worries about defective "made in China" goods, imported into North America.
They also broached climate change, upcoming APEC talks, pandemic planning, border security, the Middle East and Haiti "where all three of our countries are working to advance freedom, democracy and development," Harper said.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS