Letter to the Editor, NYT (unpublished)

To the Editor:

Re "Answering Latin Left, Bush Pledges to Help Poor" (March 14, p. A1): Mr. Bush's reference to "social justice" can only be understood as a "striking use of the revolutionary language of the left" if taken entirely out of context. In fact, it is nothing more than the same, tired rhetoric of neoliberal free trade, which has according to almost all economic indicators actually increased poverty in Latin America over the last thirty years. It is simply not a question of giving free trade a chance—it's had its chance, and failed.

At the same time, we might wonder why, if free trade is so important to Mr. Bush, he has refused to discuss eliminating the billions of dollars in agricultural subsidies directed to American agribusiness each year.

Daniel Nemser
San Francisco, CA