Annotations for Subject-headings: International Trade

My own feeling, my own personal feeling is that if we work at it, that we'll be able to get a treaty that's good for the country and good for Mexico.

That's Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza, commenting on the present status of the North American Free Trade Agreement. At this point, congressional approval of NAFTA is still in question. Mexico and Mexico's president, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, have a lot at stake in NAFTA's becoming a reality, as do many Hispanic entrepreneurs in this country. In Dallas, Latino business and civic leaders recently met with the Mexican president trying to counter the arguments from a certain Texas politician that NAFTA will mean major job losses. Brian Shields prepared this report.

Dallas billionaire, Ross Perot is spending millions of dollars to go on national television to stir up opposition to NAFTA, but members of the Dallas Hispanic Chamber believe the treaty will be beneficial for their businesses. During a recent visit to Dallas, Mexican president, Carlos Salinas, asserted there's no time to waste.

I have been asked, "Why NAFTA?" Because this is the only way how we will be able to compete in the world in which we live. "Why now?" Because we are late, late when other regions in the world are getting together to increase the efficiency and competitive capacity.

To my business, it would probably help it tremendously. I've been in business now for 12 years, doing business back and forth through Mexico, and we have had quite a bit of product going back and forth. The prices generally will then be lowered on some of the items that we now are paying some duties in.

Opposition to NAFTA in the United States centers on concerns that higher paying jobs north of the border will disappear to be replaced by very low wage employment in Mexico. Such arguments are coming not only from supporters of Ross Perot, but also from grassroots Hispanic groups such as San Antonio's Fuerza Unida, if you're a loss of American manufacturing jobs that now employ Latinos here. However, President Salinas insists the treaty will have the opposite effect.

NAFTA is also a wage increase agreement, because with increases in productivity, we will be able to increase wages in Mexico more than they have been growing in the past four years.

Between Ross Perot and opponents of free trade in and out of the Congress, right now, the agreement appears to be in trouble, but Jorge Haynes with Laredo's International Bank of Commerce insists the opportunity is too important to allow it to slip away.

If we should decide not to adopt NAFTA, which is something I don't want to think about, I think we will be going backwards in our relationship with Mexico rather than forwards.

Even now, before NAFTA's implementation, business people in Texas are actively trading with their colleagues south of the border, and if the trade agreement is going to work, it will be up to individual entrepreneurs to lead the way. It's a trail already being blazed by many Hispanic-owned businesses, such as John Montoya's. He's the president of World Dallas International, a trading services company, and for him, the rewards of the agreement are quite clear.

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Maria Martin. The future of the North American Free Trade Agreement remains in question. Since the US district judge ruled the Clinton administration may not present NAFTA for approval in Congress until its impact on the environment is determined.

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Maria Martin. The future of the North American Free Trade Agreement remains in question. Since the US district judge ruled the Clinton administration may not present NAFTA for approval in Congress until its impact on the environment is determined.

It caught some people by surprise.

It caught some people by surprise.

Judge Charles Richey's ruling was a victory for environmentalists opposed to NAFTA and a disappointing setback to its supporters like Abel Guerra of the National Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Judge Charles Richey's ruling was a victory for environmentalists opposed to NAFTA and a disappointing setback to its supporters like Abel Guerra of the National Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

We feel NAFTA provides many environmental safeguards, which are now nonexistent. The defeat of NAFTA would actually harm the environment more than these environmental groups know.

We feel NAFTA provides many environmental safeguards, which are now nonexistent. The defeat of NAFTA would actually harm the environment more than these environmental groups know.

Opponents of the present trade agreements say the court ruling validates their long-standing concerns about the treaty. Labor organizer Victor Munoz of the AFL-CIO says he's hopeful the recent court decision will lead to negotiating an entirely new trade agreement.

Opponents of the present trade agreements say the court ruling validates their long-standing concerns about the treaty. Labor organizer Victor Munoz of the AFL-CIO says he's hopeful the recent court decision will lead to negotiating an entirely new trade agreement.

If it could be renegotiated completely, I think it would give us a very good opportunity to create a much better trade agreement than the one we have right now.

If it could be renegotiated completely, I think it would give us a very good opportunity to create a much better trade agreement than the one we have right now.

NAFTA will bring more jobs and better jobs.

Labor Secretary Robert Reich launched the latest effort by the Clinton administration to push the North American Free Trade Agreement through Congress. While a coalition of Hispanic organizations and elected officials urged the president to adopt other measures to, in their words, ensure Latino support for NAFTA.

I have to be able to tell my constituents that it's a good agreement.

California Congressman Esteban Torres joined other Latino office holders and organizations such as the National Council of La Raza to announce their support for NAFTA is contingent on the adoption of provisions for dislocated workers or regional development bank, and fair opportunities for minority-owned businesses. Without this, Torres NAFTA doesn't really address the needs of Latinos.

And certainly without the enthusiastic support of Latinos and their elected officials, NAFTA has little, if any chance, for passage. It's going to be a very tough battle in Congress, and every vote counts.

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Maria Martin. The House of Representatives votes on NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement on November 17th. And a newly formed bipartisan coalition has set out to convince Latinos and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to support the controversial accord. Barrie Lynn Tapia reports.

According to Democratic Congressman Bill Richardson of New Mexico, the coalition could play a crucial role in swaying Latino congressional leaders who oppose or are undecided on NAFTA.

The purpose is to show that NAFTA's a Hispanic issue, to show that we have a majority within the Congressional Hispanic Caucus of NAFTA. That's the goal. That bipartisan, we will get a majority of Hispanic members. Right now we're at about 50/50.

The congressman admitted the battle is an uphill one. Yet members of the coalition feel they may be able to turn the tide in favor of free trade in the next few weeks. For Latino USA, this is Barrie Lynn Tapia in Washington.

Well, the good news right now for the administration is that it's not hemorrhaging or losing as many votes as it was say about a month ago. The bad news is that it's not picking up very many votes either.

As the countdown continues for a mid-November congressional vote on NAFTA, the Clinton administration is stepping up its campaign to promote free trade. The President is trying to convince those still undecided members of Congress, including those in the Hispanic caucus, to get on board. NPR reporter Richard Gonzalez has been following the free-trade debate.

What they're trying to do is convince Congressman Esteban Torres that they can meet his demands for a North America Development Bank. This would be a bank, funds for which would be used for border and environmental clean-up and for communities away from the border who might be impacted by the North America Free Trade agreement. The problem is that these negotiations are very fragile, but it could also explode and come to nothing.There's a possibility that Congressman Torres, Congressman Xavier Becerra, Congresswoman Roybal-Allard and maybe two or three others might come over to the Pro-NAFTA side. But it's still too early to say. There's the deal in the works, but a deal has not been finalized.

Some of the Puerto Rican and Cuban American Congress members are also still undecided regarding the free trade agreement.

Border Patrol spokesperson, Doug Mosher says that technically Operation Blockade ended on November 2nd, but that the enhanced patrols would continue indefinitely. Border Patrol spokesperson, Doug Mosher says that technically Operation Blockade ended on November 2nd, but that the enhanced patrols would continue indefinitely.

We still have enhanced manpower at all the major crossing points in a 20-mile area between roughly Ysleta, Texas and Sunland Park, New Mexico. So the strategy still continues.

Catholic bishops in El Paso say that Juarez, Mexico and Las Cruces, New Mexico recently called for a moratorium on Operation Blockade, to give people in border communities in both countries time to adjust to the impact of the operation on their economy, said the Bishops.But Doug Mosher of the Border Patrol says the number of apprehensions at the border are up by 80% since Operation Blockade began. That's a success, he says, and there are no plans for a moratorium.

It's a permanent initiative and it's something we're going to be doing from here on out. So, that's the word we're getting at, is it no longer is a special operation, it's a permanent activity.

Doug Mosher of the Border Patrol in El Paso.

The new President of the United Farm Workers is declaring the first week of November a time to remember the late farm worker leader Cesar Chavez. The date was chosen to coincide with the Mexican holiday of El Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. UFW head Arturo Rodriguez was in the nation's capital recently where he spoke with reporters about that and other issues facing farm workers and his union. From Washington, Christian Gonzalez has more.

The new President of the United Farm Workers Union, Arturo Rodriguez, was in Washington to address the American Federation of Teachers. Rodriguez, who was named to succeed Cesar Chavez after the farm labor leader's death last April, says most of the UFW efforts are now geared towards keeping alive the union's boycott of California table grapes and promoting their campaign against the use of pesticides.

Well, all of us desperately miss Cesar, but we know that the most important thing we could do for Cesar is, as well as what we can do for the farm workers, is to continue that work in the best way possible. So we're in addition bringing on a lot of new staff, training them so they can actually provide those benefits and services needed for the workers. And do everything we can to escalate the organizing among the workers.

Stunned by the loss of the leader, the UFW received another hard blow when they lost an appeal of a 10 million dollars lawsuit against the Bruce Church Lettuce company. The union was again ordered to pay 2.9 million dollars. The union appealed that decision to a Los Angeles Superior Court. Rodriguez said he's confident that the union will win the appeal.

So as of yet, we've not made one payment to the company. We're going to do everything possible to avoid making any payments to the company, because that case has major significance to us. First of all, that's where Cesar died, during the time that he was testifying there. And in essence, we should have never been in that trial to begin with. So we're going to do everything we possibly can to fight the company and to avoid paying any type of judgment there.

In the five months since Chavez's death, many communities have renamed streets, parks and schools after the farm labor leader. In his travels across the country Rodriguez says he's seen a renewed interest of issues affecting farm workers.

We see a tremendous revival going on in the great boycott wherever we're at. Right now, I mean, one has been all these commemorations that have taken place and special dedications that have taken place throughout the United States and in Canada and so forth. But also there's been a recommitment on the part of people. For example, within the labor community, we've seen a tremendous response there from labor throughout the nation and in Canada.

And as far as the North American Free Trade Agreement, the UFW President Rodriguez says the union has not taken an official position. However, he says his personal feeling is that it will not benefit either US or Mexican farm workers. For Latino USA, I'm Christian Gonzalez in Washington.

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Maria Martin. In an effort to gain Latino support for the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Clinton administration has thrown its support behind a border development finance project developed by Latinos. It's called the North American Development Bank, or NADBank. From Washington DC, Patricia Guadalupe has more.

The North American Development Bank is the brainchild of the Latino Consensus, a group of over 20 Hispanic organizations supporting NAFTA. Based on legislation introduced by Democratic Congressman Esteban Torres, NADBank would finance border development projects and provide economic support in communities anywhere in the United States affected by NAFTA. Both the United States and Mexico would make available from $2 to $3 billion in investment funds and provide added monies for environmental cleanup and training for workers. Congressman Torres said that without those resources, he would not have voted for NAFTA.

People fear that if the agreement is passed, American companies will close and workers will be left jobless. And for this reason, I believe it was necessary to address the legitimate fears that some communities and workers may be adversely affected. The North American Development Bank, known as NADBank, boldly addresses these fears in the most efficient and in the best cost effective manner.

Congressman Torres added that 14 undecided members of Congress, including four Hispanics, will support NAFTA, now that the financing mechanism is taken care of. The Latino Consensus says that it is intensifying its grassroots campaign around the country in support of NAFTA. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.

A poll conducted by the San Antonio-based Southwest Voter Research Institute, one of the members of the Latino Consensus, finds a slight majority of registered Latino surveyed supporting NAFTA, but a large percentage remains undecided regarding the merits of free trade.

We're not here to argue for NAFTA. We're here to find out what NAFTA does do about illegal immigration.

But I think the argument is NAFTA.

The seemingly never-ending debate surrounding the North American Free Trade Agreement continues as Congress gears up for a mid-November vote. At a congressional hearing chaired by Democrat Romano Mazzoli of Kentucky, the treaty's critics claim NAFTA doesn't do enough to limit unlawful immigration. Patricia Guadalupe has more.

Mazzoli and other members of his immigration subcommittee are not convinced that the treaty will be able to control unlawful entry into the United States by providing jobs in Mexico as those who support the treaty have argued. However, there are those who believe that some in Congress are using the NAFTA debate as an excuse to jump on the anti-immigration bandwagon. Among them as immigration policy analyst, Cecilia Munoz of the National Council of La Raza.

Again, NAFTA is the best policy proposal we've seen in decades, which has the chance of controlling long-term migration. What those folks are engaged in is short-term strategies to try and bring attention to themselves on the immigration control issue there's a lot of that going around.

The latest headcount by the bipartisan leadership shows proponents of NAFTA need at least 48 additional votes for final passage. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.

It's a choice between the past and the future. It's a choice between pessimism and optimism. It's a choice...

We got a little song we sing; "we'll remember in November, when we step into that little booth."

Vice President Al Gore and Ross Perot went head-to-head debating the North American Free Trade Agreement over whether NAFTA would benefit the country or send American jobs south. However, the debate didn't do much to convince undecided Congress members who said that the debate would factor little into their eventual decision. The level of debate has reached a fever pitch with both sides trying to sway undecided members. Patricia Guadalupe files this report.

This is almost as NAFTA is almost on the verge of hysteria. You know, Mr. Chairman, how many --

A slew of witnesses recently spent an entire morning telling Democratic representative Henry Gonzalez of Texas and other members of his banking and finance committee, horror stories about doing business in Mexico. These business people, while not against the concept of a free trade, told Gonzalez NAFTA would do little to alleviate the high level of corruption and graph they encountered. They suggested renegotiating a completely new treaty that includes less secrecy and greater involvement of the US Congress and the public. This way, they said, there would be a better chance to set up a mechanism that could help them when they run into problems. Representative Gonzalez agreed.

I think the biggest danger to this whole thing was that the entire agreement was reached in absolute secrecy, and when you do that, you're going to have trouble sooner or later and it is a very complex agreement.

Gonzalez added that, in his opinion, the pro-NAFTA forces will ultimately fall short of the votes they need in Congress because they haven't done a good job of explaining any of the details and too many people are confused. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.

The Latino consensus, a pro-NAFTA coalition made up of a group of national Latino organizations is also trying to sway undecided representatives to vote for NAFTA. Andy Hernandez of the Southwest Voter Research Institute, one member of the Latino consensus, says that with the addition of the North American Development Bank, NAFTA is an agreement that Latinos can live with.

As you know, the Latino consensus was not for NAFTA until the North American Development Bank was part of the proposal because we thought the mechanism wasn't there to address some of the problems that NAFTA would create. The point of this lobbying effort is to go back to our leadership and say, now we have a NAFTA worth fighting for.

Hernandez believes that it will be a very tough and close vote. However, if NAFTA fails, says Hernandez, it won't be because of loss of jobs or the environment.

The deciding edge on why NAFTA may go down may be that latent bigotry that exists in our country against all things Mexican or Latino.

You're listening to Latino USA.

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Vidal Guzman.

[Highlight—natural sound—protest] Hey, you're blind. You don't know the future.

The debate over NAFTA is now over, and the North American Free Trade Agreement is closer to becoming a reality. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus split geographically on the vote. Those west of the Mississippi voted for NAFTA, while representatives from the Midwest and East Coast were opposed, citing their fear of job losses, a fear President Clinton attempted to allay after the vote.

I call on the coalition that passed NAFTA to help me early next year present to the Congress and pass a world-class reemployment system that will give our working people the security of knowing that they'll be able always to get the training they need as economic conditions change.

Latinos played key roles in both sides of the NAFTA debate. José Niño, president of the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, says, "Never before has the involvement of Latinos had such an impact on legislation." "And that," says Niño, "bodes well for the future."

As we move forward and we negotiate other laws and other relationships between Mexico and the US, in America, they're going to be looking to the Latino community here and saying, "Well, let's get their opinion now," and whether they want our opinion or not, it's such a big impact into what's going on that they can no longer just sit around and ignore us.

I'm Maria Hinojosa. The long, drawn-out, and hard-fought battle over the North American Free Trade agreement finally came to an end when the House of Representatives, after more than 10 hours of debate, approved the controversial treaty by a vote of 234 for NAFTA, 200 against. Latino USA's Patricia Guadalupe has been following the debate on Capitol Hill. She prepared this report.

[Background—natural sounds—Congressional proceeding] On this vote the yeas are 234, the nays are 200, and the bill has passed.

There were no last-minute surprises in the Hispanic caucus since all the Latino members of Congress had announced beforehand how they would vote. All members east of the Mississippi River voted against a treaty, including all the Puerto Rican members, Democrats Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, Nydia Velazquez of New York, and Hispanic caucus chair Jose Serrano, also of New York, as well as the Cuban American members of Congress from New Jersey and Florida. All those west of the Mississippi River, that is, every Mexican American member of Congress, with the exception of Democrat Henry Gonzalez of Texas, voted in favor of NAFTA. Among the members voting for the treaty was Democratic Representative Frank Tejeda of Texas. During the hours of the debate, he likened a yes vote, to a vote for economic progress particularly for future generations.

If we reject NAFTA, we limit their future potential. We must press NAFTA and teach our graduates by example. We must also send the willing message, that the United States instead remained the world's economic leader.

But neither Congressman Tejeda's words, nor those of other pro-NAFTA representatives did anything to convince the three Cuban American members of Congress, who have all along objected to signing an agreement with Mexico. They oppose Mexico's diplomatic relations with Cuba. Lincoln Diaz Ballard, a Cuban American Republican from Florida, added that he voted against NAFTA not only because of Cuba but because he considers the Mexican government with the same political party and power for over 60 years to be undemocratic.

And that's the problem with the Mexican government. They, they're a long-standing rotating dictatorship. They steal elections every six years. And when we sign an agreement with them, who are we signing agreement with? A group of families, or a group of people? So that's why we need to, we should have announced from the beginning that we're doing it. We want entrance into a common market of hemispheric democracies. We didn't do that. That's a fatal flaw.

The final vote was not as close as some had expected with 16 more than the 218 needed for passage. Some analysts say the intense lobbying by the Clinton administration in the last few days, along with Vice President Al Gore's good showing in the debate with Ross Perot convinced many of the undecided members. Raul Hinojosa, an economist at UCLA and a member of the Pro-NAFTA Coalition known as the Latino consensus, also thinks that the opposition to NAFTA lost steam as the final vote neared.

What's happened is that the White House has had an incredible momentum in the last week and a half of a lot of undecideds, which is way, by the way, exactly how the public has shifted. A lot of the undecided vote went to NAFTA in the last two weeks. I think what was clear is that the opposition was very strong, but it wasn't growing anymore, and therefore what we're seeing is that the vast majority of the undecided then shifted over with the President on this issue.

The NAFTA treaty now moves onto the Senate where final approval is expected easily. If accepted by the governments of Canada and Mexico, the North American Free Trade Agreement would go into effect next January, creating the largest consumer market in the world. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.

Perhaps more than in any previous foreign policy debate, US Latinos, from political leaders to factory workers, have been involved in the discussion surrounding the North American Free Trade Agreement. New Mexico Congressman Bill Richardson, for example, spearheaded the administration's push for votes in the house. The Mexican government has lobbied Latino organizations for several years on the issue. Latino labor leaders have been active in the anti NAFTA movement, and within Latino organizations a coalition called the Latino Consensus has worked to have greater Latino input into what's been called this NAFTA.

Some of those Latinos active on both sides of the NAFTA debate now join us on Latino USA. José Niño, president and CEO of the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, based in Washington, who supported NAFTA. Sylvia Puente, research director for the Latino Institute in Chicago, which originally opposed, but finally supported NAFTA. From New York, Jose La Luz, International Affairs director for the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union who opposed NAFTA, and Andy Hernandez of the Southwest Voter Research Institute in San Antonio, one of the members of the Latino consensus on NAFTA. Bienvenidos, welcome to Latino USA. Let me begin with you, Andy Hernandez in Texas. Were you surprised by the way the house finally voted on NAFTA?

We thought it was going to be a little bit closer, but no, we weren't surprised. I think that in the end a number of groups came around because they felt that what the provisions that the administration was providing, like North American Development Bank, made NAFTA worth fighting for. By the way, the division you saw in the whole is reflected in their own delegation. Nine Hispanic members went for NAFTA, eight opposed it.

In fact, that says something about the split within the Hispanic caucus. We had Puerto Rican and Cuban American Congress members mostly opposed and most of the Mexican-American representatives in favor of NAFTA. What does this say about the Hispanic caucus? What does it say about Latino divisions within our political voting block and about how we see these Latino issues as a community? Jose Niño in Washington.

What it says is that we have to continue to keep working and nobody's rubber-stamped here. Everybody brings their own uniqueness to the table, and everybody has to be highly respected for their own opinion. We have to continue to work, and I know that our organization, the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, we supported it from the very beginning. There were those others that didn't yet we kept on communicating and talking with each other to see how we could bridge that gap all along, and that's what we must continue to do within the caucus.

Jose La Luz, you represent labor in this discussion. How do you see these divisions among Latinos regarding NAFTA, which has now been passed?

The impact in the Midwest and the Northeast could be more serious in terms of the potential for job loss. So, obviously, this means that the constituents of many of these Latino Congress people that oppose NAFTA had a very different view of the consequences this would happen. In my opinion, it is significant that Latinos, whether they were for or against this trade and investment treaty, have made a major contribution to shape one of the most critical elements of foreign policy towards Latin America. And in that sense, we have made a very important contribution to the future of the country and I am very proud of our role.

And I totally concur with that and I think that on this particular issue, what it means for Latino leadership is that while there was a lot of commonality among us as Latinos, as I see this issue, it broke down along economic interest.

And as Mr. La Luz has stated, the Midwest and especially Chicago being a primary manufacturing center in the United States was a critical factor of our initial decision to conditionally oppose NAFTA until we could ensure that those who would be disproportionately affected, the 40% of Chicago's Latino community works in manufacturing, would be able to have a sufficient worker retraining program and income assistance to enable them to continue to compete.

We have now to fight to make sure that the rules of trade are improved so that the kind of harmonization that we are anticipating takes place upwards and not downwards, such as is the case in the European community. And that's why the question of monitoring potential job loss in this location is a fundamental importance for all of us that are participating in this conversation.

Now, the debate surrounding NAFTA brought out some pretty unpleasant images of Mexico. There was questions of poverty, corruption. Ross Perot was talking about our trucks, our camiones, that were going to ruin American roads. How do you see that aspect of the debate figuring into the long-term Mexico-US debate?

Politically that's going to be the next fight in the next election year. I think that you're going to have candidates running against immigrants and there's a very good chance that Latinos will become the Willie Hortons of the 1994 elections. I think we should anticipate that and we need to take the appropriate steps to -- not defend ourselves. I don't think we need a defense, but we need to take the appropriate steps to make sure that we don't allow these myths and these falsehoods to go unchallenged in the political arena.

Pues, muchas gracias, thank you very much for joining us on Latino USA, Andy Hernandez of the Southwest Voter Research Institute in San Antonio, Jose Nino, president and CEO of the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington. Sylvia Puente, research director for the Latino Institute in Chicago, and from New York, Jose La Luz, international affairs director for the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. Muchas Gracias for Latino USA.

This morning it was my great honor to welcome seven outstanding Central American leaders to the White House, President Cristiani of El Salvador, President Endara of Panama, President…

In a historic gathering, president Clinton met recently with the heads of all of the Central American countries. President Clinton released $40 million in aid to Nicaragua and said he was committed to expanding free trade throughout Latin America. He's calling for a study to see how the North American Free Trade Agreement could be expanded to include other countries in the hemisphere. Along the US Mexico border, many businesses are already gearing up to take advantage of NAFTA. As Ancel Martinez reports from the border communities of Mexicali and Calexico.

Dozens of maquiladora workers solder at workstations and weld electrical transformers at the Emerson Electric Company in Mexicali, the capital Baja California. Owned by a worldwide corporation based in St. Louis, Emerson Electric employs Mexican workers and exports the finished products back to the United States. Simon Diaz, president of Emerson Mexico says NAFTA will mean less tariffs on Emerson products and finally put its inventory within reach of Mexican consumers.

Certainly for us, it's going to open up lot markets that are really right now prohibitive in terms of the tariff. Most of our products as they sell in Mexico now incur a 20% duty. If we can get rid of that duty, that's just going to allow us to sell a hell of a lot more of our products in Mexico that right now are not able to compete as well as we'd like them to compete.

Already there's been a rush of industry. A new steel plant owned by Guadalajara investors is opening up on the outskirts of the city. A huge new bottling plant has been built. Business operations here can prosper with inexpensive labor close enough and competitive enough to the United States. These companies are expected to flourish under NAFTA. Across the border is the small town of Calexico, baked by the sun. Little changes here day to day. The Calexico Chronicle on second Street is where the local mayor tells the Chronicle editor, Hildy Carillo, of his next political fundraiser.

Primary is going to be a dinner dance at the National Guard, $25 a couple and we're going to have a fantastic dinner and at the same time, I will be making my presentation, goals and objective for the board of supervisor.

Oh, Pretty good.

Calexico Mayor, Tony Tirado, has seen progress sometimes bypass his city, but now with cross-border trade, a hot topic, he hopes the predominantly agricultural county can capitalize on a developing Mexicali.

In all the years that I lived here in Calexico and the border that the borders have never been given their rightful, how shall I say, in the perspective of funding from the gift federal government to upgrade our borders. Okay. Until now, because this is where the action's going to be. So we have to improve and one of the factors is we were able to convince the federal government, "Hey, your port port of entry here in Calexico is inadequate."

Indeed, the government is spending millions on a new border crossing to handle more commerce. Lower tariffs and open investment laws under NAFTA will now allow border businessmen to plan years in advance. [Backgound--natural sounds--office work] Secretaries type out waybills and answer calls from warehouses at Bill Polkinhorn's custom brokerage house. The company was founded by Bill's grandfather at the turn of the century, originally shipping cotton from Mexico to Los Angeles for markets in the Orient. Now his grandson mostly handles electronics with a made in Mexico label. Polkinhorn explains NAFTA will increase trade.

NAFTA is kind of going to be the icing on the cake to a trade program with Mexico that we kind of started in 1985 or 86. We've seen exports from the United States to Mexico increase from eight to 10 billion a year, clear up to 40 billion since 1985. NAFTA's going to make it possible for, mostly for the United States to sell our products down there. Plus there's a lot of products, Mexican manufactured products coming up from Mexico City, Guadalajara, and the west coast of Mexico that are coming into the LA area either for consumption in LA or for shipment to the Orient.

Custom brokers like Polkinhorn on the US side of the border are excited about NAFTA, but one only has to wander a few blocks to the Mexican border to see how poverty still separates these two countries. In Calexico and Mexicali, the different standards of living still cause disputes over immigration and border pollution. [Background--natural sounds--harmonica] Yards away from US. Customs checkpoints, one man panhandles with his harmonica on a Mexicali street. Boys and Girls Hawk, chicklets and newspapers, thousands come to this city searching for a better life and delivering jobs, housing, schools and health clinics are problems that'll take more than a paper treaty like NAFTA to solve. For Latino USA, I'm Ancel Martinez in Mexicali, Mexico.

The North American Free Trade Agreement is now official. Patricia Guadalupe attended the signing ceremonies in Washington.

[Background--natural sound--music] Over 100 supporters, including members of Congress and business and labor leaders came to see President Clinton sign the hotly contested treaty. This pact creates the world's largest market with over 300 million potential consumers. President Bill Clinton.

We are on the verge of a global economic expansion that is sparked by the fact that the United States at this critical moment decided that we would compete, not retreat.

Latino analysts says the Hispanic community, particularly Hispanic-owned businesses, will benefit greatly from NAFTA and the President's emphasis on global expansion. Among those analysts is Raul Yzaguirre of the National Council of La Raza.

If we get our act together, if we do some very specific things, I think we can benefit by increased business and increased employment.

Yzaguirre added that the specific thing he wants to see is Hispanics uniting to make sure that the community now receives the funds it was promised to develop projects along the border with Mexico through the North American Development Bank. This unity was not evident during the vote in Congress, however, with almost all Mexican American representatives voting for NAFTA , and Puerto Rican and Cuban American members voting against it citing fear of loss of jobs and Mexico's friendly relations with Cuba.

Some speculate this has created divisions within the Hispanic caucus, and will affect work on other pieces of legislation. Democratic representative, Kika de la Garza of Texas disagrees.

From this day, like any other piece of legislation, you finish one piece of legislation, you go on to the other. I don't see any connection. I don't see any problems for the President or in the Congress.

The North American Free Trade Agreement will be enacted on January 1st, gradually eliminating tariffs and other trade barriers over the next 15 years. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.