EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Free trade agreements are seen as the most objective manifestation of life, in relation to the citizens of the international community. Therefore, it is appropriate for us to ask ourselves, “Are the principles that govern Public International Law applicable and have they been set forth in the free trade agreements that have been signed since 2002 and the ones that are currently being negotiated?” This question led to my interest in analyzing the principles set forth in the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (ALCA), established at the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade, held in San Jose, Costa Rica, in 1998, and to compare it to the principles of international law enshrined in Article 2 of the San Francisco Charter, signed in 1945.

Deductive and historical methods were used in this comparative legal analysis, in which the United Nations (UN) is viewed as responsible for the creation of the principles that govern international law, as well as for the creation of its competent bodies and functions, and the rights and obligations of its Member States.

We explain the legal bases and elements that underlie the establishment of international treaties, in general, and the rights and obligations thereof established in accordance with the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, of 1969.

Subsequently, the process of economic integration in the Americas is addressed, starting with a definition thereof, the classification and analysis of the importance of free trade agreements in the Americas, particularly the Latin American Trade Association (ALALC) and the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), established by the Treaty of Montevideo of 1960 and 1980, respectively.

This analysis concludes with an historical-descriptive explanation of the FTAA negotiation process since the First Summit of the Americas in 1994 up to the Third Summit of the Americas, held in Quebec in 2001, and the Meetings of Ministers Responsible for Trade. Thanks to the FTAA official website, we were able to access all of this information.

We describe the internal structure of the FTAA and analyze the principles set forth in the FTAA negotiations, comparing them to those contained in the San Francisco Charter, the topic which gave rise to this professional thesis.

We support the hypothesis that the principles enshrined in the San Francisco Charter are being applied within the principles set forth in the FTAA negotiations. Therefore, they are the guidelines to follow and thus will be more easily accepted by the negotiating countries. We underscore the need for those responsible for foreign trade not to ignore such an important base of knowledge as offered to us by these principles that govern international relations.