Indigenous groups in Ecuador are standing firm against the proposed free trade agreement with the United States. Indians in Ecuador fear that the free trade agreement, when signed, will threaten their culture and wipe out their agricultural industry. Reports Reuters:
Indian protesters are demanding that the government abandon the talks, contending that a trade pact will damage their livelihoods and way of life. The protests, which have cost Ecuador millions of dollars in lost commerce, were the latest challenge to President Alfredo Palacio, a cardiologist with little political backing who says he will not halt the trade negotiations.
The attitudes are hardly new:
Indians throughout the Andes harvest potatoes, corn and other products for consumption in their hamlets. As part of the communal tradition, surplus harvest is sold in local markets. “This trade deal will starve us to death,” said Maria Sillo, a mother of three who plants vegetables and makes about $15 a week selling her produce in a nearby market. “We prefer to die fighting this deal than to starve to death.”
But not everyone is protesting the free trade agreement. Entrepreneurs in the Dominican Republic, for example, instead of mounting country-wide protests, are seeking ways to remain competitive under the new market conditions:
The initiative, elaborated by a group of artisans headed by Miguel Pimental and business consultant Cesar Arjona, contains five development projects. The first consists of creating a network of national-brand shops to expose Dominican art crafts exclusively.
The entrepreneurs believe that the latter, along with an aggressive marketing program, could pave the way for differentiating the local product from imported ones, currently representing 60.7% of the total offer. Another component consists of creating a commercial base for Dominican crafts that could transport the products to the different regional distribution centers.
Entrepreneurship is more about innovation, change, competition, and being able to adapt to market conditions than it is about protectionism. Free trade does not necessarily put people out of business – unless, of course, entrepreneurs don’t innovate, evolve, and seek out new opportunities. Creative destruction is the pinnacle of capitalism, and if we can’t deal with competition and opening of new markets, then we just might as well be the candle-makers petitioning the government against unfair competition from the sun.
Published Date: March 20, 2006