Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman voted a bold “yes” in support of the Bush Administration’s proposed CAFTA, against the interests of 20,000 constituents. He stated, “I hope in the end, within the next year or two that folks in western Minnesota say I did the right thing for them.”

Daniel Roche, president of a farmers’ cooperative, countered, “I was offended that he feels that he knows what is best for the industry better than we do. I live and breathe the sugar industry 24 hours a day. CAFTA is not what's best.”

Back in the comfort of the U.S. Embassy, Caruso reflects, “A weak point of democracy is it requires a certain amount of commitment on the part of the voters to understand complex issues.”

What Caruso cannot see from the insular walls of the Embassy nor Coleman from his guarded office at the capital, is that for small-scale farmers, farming is not about mastering the business world to propagate a comparative advantage; it is a way of life. People like Samwang Srimantha and Daniel Roche don’t care about having the purchasing power to buy the right bowl or being able to grab a Snickers bar upon a craving. But then again, they aren’t the ones making the decisions.

In their “we-know-best” quest to expand, politicians lose sight of the fact that there is a lot more than just fish and berries in the real world. While the villagers of Kutchum gradually work to enhance their capacities as a community, the drive to liberalize undermines a “slower” lifestyle, and business interests come first. Yet, if people like Samwang are forced to struggle to keep up with the global economy, who will focus on strengthening things on the home front?

After falling victim to Washington-backed trade policies for years, Latin American leaders are starting