As they prepare to meet in Puebla, Mexico, next month, hemispheric trade officials have scratched from their agenda plans to discuss the selection of a site for the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas.
Organizers of the local bid to land the regional trade pact's secretariat said they had planned to make a presentation on the merits of Miami at the Feb. 2-7 meeting. Instead, they were informed that the topic was no longer on the list.
''We were all gearing up to make that pitch,'' said Jorge Arrizurieta, executive director of the Florida FTAA, ``but [the trade negotiators] haven't met since Miami, and they have a huge workload.''
Arrizurieta said proponents of Miami's bid would now concentrate on the written proposal, due March 1. Ten other cities around the hemisphere have thrown their hats in the ring to compete for the location of the headquarters.
The trade negotiators do figure to have a full plate in Puebla. For one, they must determine the minimum commitments and obligations countries must make and meet in order to participate in the trade pact, which is supposed to be finalized by year-end. While the trade ministers agreed on the broad brush strokes of a pact at last November's meeting in Miami, the details are yet to be worked out.
Miami's proposal, said Arrizurieta, who directs the local effort to land the headquarters, describes what the region has to offer: international flights, hotels, telecommunications, security, infrastructure and many foreign consulates, among other things.
''We intend to show that we are a world-class city and that we are going to reconfirm and ratify our gateway status,'' he said.
He identified the leading local sites for the secretariat as Dinner Key and Watson Island but said no final decision had been made. Efforts to win the headquarters will gear up again next month, he said.
''We're going to start our aggressive country visits again,'' Arrizurieta said, adding that Gov. Jeb Bush is planning a four-day ''whistle-stop'' tour through Central America, starting on Feb. 15, as part of a campaign for secretariat support.
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