COLUMN LEFT/ RODOLFO F. ACUNA : Fast Track Leaves Latinos Untracked : Leaders who supported the free-trade talks got nothing from Bush for their efforts.

Immediately after announcing their support for the successful extension of the “fast track” for a free-trade agreement, many Latino leaders crowed that the doors of the White House were open to Latinos. This tone quickly changed as the ardor of the Bush Administration chilled.

According to Washington-based Latino lobbyists, Bush has effectively shut Latinos out of the free-trade negotiations, with a preliminary draft of the agreement expected as early as October. Daily it is more evident that, far from being in the loop, Latinos are still among this Administration’s stepchildren.

A big-time loser is Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza, who was a leader in garnering Latino support for fast-track authorization. The council had planned to celebrate its new White House influence at its July convention in Houston. It invited Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher to be the keynote speaker. There was also word from the Bush Administration that the council would receive the Census Bureau’s Foresight Award for distinguished service during the 1990 Census for efforts to boost Latino participation.

Latino leaders also expected some gesture from Bush to soften the blow of his expected veto of a new civil-rights bill, and had high hopes that a Latino would be nominated to the Supreme Court.

What followed was a comic opera.

Instead of a face-saving gesture on civil rights, Bush hit harder than ever at his “quota” objections to the bill. And then he nominated Clarence Thomas, an African-American, to the high court.

Still hoping for a crumb from their Republican benefactor, Latinos expected to persuade Mosbacher to revise the census undercount that excluded, by the Census Bureau’s own estimate, 1.24 million Latinos. Cities with large Latino populations face a loss of federal funding, which is determined by population. Mosbacher refused to budge.

Finally, the Council of La Raza embarrassingly did not receive the Foresight Award. Its humiliation was compounded when Mosbacher, at the last minute, declined to attend the convention and sent Assistant Secretary of International Commerce Roger Wallace to speak in his place.

It is time that the National Council of La Raza, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and others who supported fast-track coldly assess what is happening--not just the slights of the moment but longer-term issues.

For instance, Yzaguirre and other Latino leaders had said, in connection with their support of fast-track, that Bush promised to protect the jobs of Latino workers. But considering what’s already taking place, that’s unlikely.

Take the General Motors Van Nuys plant. GM has announced that it is closing shop and moving these operations to Canada, the third partner in the free-trade agreement. In 1985, 5,100 workers, half of them Latino, worked at Van Nuys. There have been deep cuts since then, but the closure will still cost at least 2,600 good-paying union jobs. More tragic is that the plant is not moving because Van Nuys is unproductive--it’s just that in Canada the company will save $400 to $600 per worker a month in medical insurance costs.

Another example of Bush’s indifference to Latino concerns is legislation pending in Congress to prohibit permanent replacement of strikers. Since President Reagan’s 1981 firing of the air traffic controllers, “permanent replacements” have almost singlehandedly destroyed many Latino-dominated unionization drives. Given the fact that unionized Latinos earn 52% more than non-union Latino workers and are more likely to have medical care, the Latino community should be outraged over the Administration’s signals that Bush intends to veto this legislation.

My mother used to tell me that if Anglos consistently lied to you that it was because they “saw the face of a fool.” I can understand the need to play all sides of the political game and get what we can from Republicans. Lord knows that Democrats have not represented the interests of Latinos. But the truth be told, Bush sees our Latino leaders as fools--and the sad part is that they seem to like it.