That is the best way to describe the decision reached last weekend by 34 Pan-American leaders. Gathering in Quebec City, they defied thousands of violent protesters and agreed to create the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The removal of trade barriers from the Arctic to the southern tip of Argentina, scheduled for the end of 2005, will create the world's largest trade bloc, encompassing 34 countries with more than 800 million people and a combined economic output of $11 trillion, or nearly one-third of the world's total.
The goal is ambitious. It is achievable. Absent strong political will, especially in the United States, however, the plan will come to nothing.
The idea for a hemispheric trade bloc was endorsed as early as 1994. The logic behind the concept was simple: Trade and economic integration were the best means of creating and sharing prosperity throughout the Americas.