|
NAFTA created a trilateral trade bloc for the North American countries and the agreement was signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States. NAFTA's goal was to eliminate trade and investment barriers between the three countries.
There has been speculation for quite some time about a proposed NAFTA Superhighway. This corridor will potentially take up to 1 million acres of land, all by eminent domain. There would be roughly 4,000 miles of roadway and it could be up to four football fields wide. This "superhighway" would carry trucks and trains and also pipelines for oil, gas, and water. It is estimated to be a multi-billion dollar project, coming very close to $200 billion! A major concern to critics is this plan will compromise each individual state's sovereignty within the US.
If the plan is fully implemented, there would need to be a way to monitor the borders, possibly leading the United States to require Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFIDs) for vehicles, or even people. These micro electronic devices are now being used in US passports. They are also being considered for current US borders, but once they are opened up more freely, the RFIDs will be in high demand and are being much preferred over the Real ID card, because more information can be obtained and tracking of the individual made easier. Critics say the routine tracking of US citizens seems inevitable, especially under NAFTA.
The Great Plains International Trade Corridor, the mid-western portion of the "superhighway," would run from Mexico, through West Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and Oklahoma. The road would then continue into Canada. A portion of the highway, the Trans-Texas Corridor, once completed, would be run by Spanish company Cintra. Negotiations have already begun with the Texas Department of Transportation to allow Cintra a 30-50 year lease on the highway and the company would also be permitted to collect tolls on the I-35 section. Tolls could represent a huge tax to already financially burdened Americans. But, in addition, this tax will be paid by Americans to a foreign country for their profit.
The Trans-Texas Corridor however, is just a small portion of the proposed highway. By completion, the CANAMEX Corridor could snake across 49 of the 50 states that make up the United States. It's been said that the superhighway will be a secured and integrated highway. The entire length of the highway would then be militarized and annexed. The corridor is part of what is called the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, or the SPP.
The North American Union, a much bigger part of the SPP, would virtually eliminate borders in the United States and allow for free travel between the member countries. Critics of the North American Union say people could come and go as they please, making it more difficult to control drugs and drug cartels, imported diseases, even terrorists. And the economies could eventually become fused into one.
In an interview for the book Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy, former President of Mexico Vicente Fox was quoted to say what he was seeking long term with the US was a "convergence of our two economies, convergence on the basic and fundamental variables of the economy, convergence on rates of interest, convergence on income of people, convergence on salaries." While he understood that this could take a multitude of years, his ultimate hope was that this would allow Mexico and the United States to "erase that border, open up that border for [the] free flow of products, merchandises, [and] capital as well as people."
This is similar to the EEU, European Economic Union, which already includes an integrated monetary system, the Euro, and a political union with its legislative council based in Brussels, Belgium.
|
|
