"I guess we're the first victims of the free-trade deal," she said.

He threatened military action against Iraq and chided his own party for denying him authority to negotiate free-trade deals.

Others say the case for the alliances could go down amid disillusionment with the free-trade deal, which is likely to be the bigger issue.

The signing of the free-trade deal last week caused barely a ripple.

The reason: a striking proliferation of regional free-trade deals.

"But once the free-trade deal was signed and delivered, they failed to carry through."

The United States is considering starting talks that could lead to a bilateral free-trade deal.

Officials hope to reach agreement on the ground rules for a three-way free-trade deal by Feb. 1.

And here in Ecuador, though the government generally supports a free-trade deal, its leaders know the idea is largely unpopular.

It is hard to overstate the widespread unease about free-trade deals.