Miami et les nouvelles relations interaméricaines

Abstract

Miami and the new Inter-American relations. The Inter-American relations have reached a new phase characterized by the growth of commercial relationships, by crossed investments and interchange of diverse kind. The Miami Metropolitan Area, strategically located at the Southern tip of the United States, close to the Straits of Florida, has become during the last two decades the main gateway for this flux of exchange to and from the Caribbean and Latin America. Taking advantage of its "hub and spokes" function through its port and its airport, it has become a large sprawling metropolis, a center of attraction for international tourism and it now vies for some kind of political status. The Miami Summit (1994) has been the platform from where the project of a Free Trade Area, encompassing the whole hemisphere (FTAA), was launched. While this idea makes some progress, Miami believes that it will benefit from this dynamic, based on the accomplishment of a large marketplace. Analyzing these recent developments, the Author attempts to evaluate the potential of Miami and to define the new style of the Inter-American relations, as well as to ouline the obstacles that lie on the road to a full scale hemispheric free trade.