Although Jamaica and the other 13 members of the Caribbean Community have pledged their vote to Trinidad & Tobago, Miami appears to be, by far, the favoured city for the secretariat of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
The permanent site for the secretariat that will oversee the largest and most powerful trading block on the globe, will ultimately be decided by the votes of the 34 countries of the hemisphere that will make up the block. The goal is for the FTAA to be in operation by January 1, 2006.
But already, Miami has been making a big push to be the permanent location, and is busy jockeying for the host of the FTAA ministerial summit next year - a move that many believe would facilitate its larger objective of being the permanent site for the secretariat.
A United States city must host next year's ministerial summit, while Brazil will be the host of the final summit to be held in 2004.
Miami's quest to be the permanent host is getting support from the most powerful city on Earth: Washington. That does not surprise political observers in Florida, because the state's governor, Jeb Bush, is brother of US president, George W Bush, and the president has been to Florida 11 times this year to bolster the candidacy for reelection of his younger sibling.
Americans are convinced that the first step towards copping the main prize for Miami, is for the city to host the next ministerial summit.
"When I join my fellow ministers negotiating the FTAA in Quito, I will propose that the US host the next ministerial meeting in 2003," says US trade representative, Robert Zoellick. "If our hosts agree, that we do so right here in Miami," he told the recent Miami Herald Americas Conference.
At the conference, Bush made a direct pitch for his state.
"It (Miami) has long been considered the gateway to the Americas - serving as a cultural, economic and political hub for Latin America and the Caribbean," said the governor. "The 2003 ministerial negotiations provide us yet another opportunity to showcase our state and why Miami should be the ideal location for the FTAA permanent (seat)."
Atlanta is another US city competing to host the permanent FTAA headquarters. There are reports that Miami and Atlanta are the frontrunners going into the Quito summit, where the decision on the 2003 summit will be made.
Though Atlanta is a late comer to the contest, its candidacy is being pushed by an impressive corporate roster, including Delta Airlines.
For, at stake is not just prestige, but the millions of dollars in potential benefits to the host city.
"I strongly believe that Miami is the ideal location for the FTAA's permanent secretariat," said Mayor Manuel A Diaz. "Miami has long been recognised as one of the great global hubs for trade and commerce, international finance and foreign investment, and is located near major land, air and sea transportation centers."
Diaz recalled that the FTAA was conceived in Miami in 1994 during the Summit of the Americas. "It will represent around 800 million people," he pointed out. This, he said would represent "a collective annual gross domestic product of approximately $14 trillion in goods and services, the largest trading bloc in the world".
Yet there are other candidates. Houston, a late starter, Mexico which is reportedly trying to promote Puebla, and Panama City which is hoping to be a compromise site if there is a deadlock between the two major US contenders. Trinidad & Tobago is said to have very little chance.
Said Bush in his campaign for his state: "Miami's geographic position, its unsurpassed commercial aviation infrastructure, sophisticated communications, multilingual work force and excellent quality of life make it ideally positioned to serve as 'the Brussels of the Western Hemisphere. I firmly believe that Miami, with its multi-cultural population hailing from every nation of the Americas and strong cultural ties to the hemisphere, is the city that best reflects the dream of hemispheric integration."
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