FREE TRADE CREATES CLIMATE FOR ADVANCEMENTS

The agreement reached by leaders of the 32 democracies in North and South America during their summit at the Quebec trade summit is important for many reasons. Perhaps most important is the direct link between free trade and democracy. Under the provisions of the summit accord, only nations led by democratically elected governments can participate. As a result, dictator-controlled Cuba is the only country in the western hemisphere that is excluded from the proposed trade plan.

The bold and broad trade accord has many hurdles to cross. The idea of the world's largest free-trade zone raises reservations, particularly within nations whose fiercely protective trade restrictions have resulted in little more than preferential treatment for an elite manufacturing class. In the United States, President Bush faces the formidable task of convincing Congress to give his administration negotiating authority to hammer out the details of the free-trade accord.

The goals set in Quebec are worth pursuing. Eliminating trade barriers and tariffs on the two continents of the western hemisphere holds the promise of economic benefits from Alaska to the southern tip of South America. The spread of jobs under such an accord would create the personal wealth needed to purchase more consumer goods at reasonable and equitable prices. And in some countries with broad trade restrictions like Brazil's self-serving barriers the flow of products produced in a competitive environment can only lead to the availability of better goods and services.

The leaders meeting in Quebec went to great lengths to address concerns that affect the lives of citizens in every western nation. Issues such as illegal drugs, election practices, government corruption, human rights, education and health care were considered to be important components of a multinational free-trade zone.

With the attention being given to these areas of concern, it is difficult to understand the well-organized protests that tried to dominate news coverage of the summit. The foundation of the protests is the belief that the fewest restrictions on trade produce the most disregard for workers and the environment by huge corporations whose only interest -- according to the rioters -- is money.

It's true that corporations -- big or small -- have a keen interest in profits. It is through those profits that they are able to create new jobs, new wealth and new products that improve and save our lives. Free trade provides the atmosphere for the further advancement of our culture, our politics and our economy. Those are good goals.