Council of the Americas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

The Council of the Americas is an American business organization whose stated goal is promoting free trade, democracy and open markets throughout the Americas. This includes Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, as well as South America.

It was founded in 1965 by David Rockefeller and a group of like-minded business people and is the US section of the North American Business Committee, founded in 1948. Since that time, membership has grown to over two-hundred corporations, including some of the largest US blue-chip companies (see below), which the Council claims represents the majority of those US corporations that have private investments in Latin America.

The Council regularly hosts Presidents, cabinet ministers, central bankers, government officials, and leading experts from across the Americas in economics, politics, business, and finance. This affords it unique access into information and insights into the evolution of the entire region.

The Council of the Americas argues that free markets and private enterprise offer the most effective means to achieve regional economic growth and prosperity. It has been an ardent supporter of free trade agreements and has been instrumental in the conception of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), both of which have been heavily promoted by David Rockefeller.

The Council has also campaigned for Trade Promotion Authority, usually referred to as "fast track", which gives the president of the US authority to negotiate trade agreements that cannot be amended by Congress, only voted on yes or no. It was in effect from 1975 to 1994 and resulted in NAFTA. It was restored in 2002 by the US Trade Promotion Authority Act.

Mack McLarty, chief of staff for Bill Clinton, was a crucial liaison of the Council to the Clinton administration. He also served as Clinton's "special envoy to the Americas," in which capacity he was a key mover and shaker in the creation of NAFTA and the yet to be implemented Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which originated from David Rockefeller. He was a top official at the 1994 Miami Summit of the Americas, which laid the groundwork for this Trade bloc.

Contents

[edit] Notable Corporate members

[edit] Board of Directors

Notable Directors include:

  • A. Bermudez
    • President & Chief Executive Officer, Commercial Business Group, Citibank Texas, N.A.
  • Stephen E. Biegun
    • Corporate Officer and Vice President of International Government Affairs, Ford Motor Company
  • Nestor T. Carbonell
    • Vice President, International Public Affairs, PepsiCo
  • Terrence J. Checki
  • Edward T. Cloonan
  • Juan Fernández-Oliva
    • General Manager, Latin America, IBM Global Services
  • Andreas Fibig
  • Sergio J. Galvis
  • Craig Herkert
    • President &Chief Executive Officer,The Americas, Wal-Mart International
  • Maureen Kempston Darkes
  • Stuart R. McGill
  • Mack McLarty, III
    • President, Kissinger McLarty Associates
  • Marvin Odum
    • Executive Vice President, EP Americas, Shell International
  • Brian D. O'Neill
  • Alixandre Schijman
  • Alexandre G. Silva
    • President and CEO, South America, GE Company.

[edit] Further reading

  • Memoirs, David Rockefeller, New York: Random House, 2002.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../c/o/u/Council_of_the_Americas_0394.html"