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FTAA Campaing Update
February 2003
Our third issue features reports from the World Social Forum and organizing
in the US. If you have stories or lessons to share about your organizing
against the FTAA, email them to Kate at kmcmahon@faireconomy.org.
Please also:
Marchers in Porto Alegre Say "No!" to WTO, FTAA, and War;
“Yes!” to a Single Latin America
In the huge demonstration that ended this year’s World Social
Forum, a new Latin America was on display. Throughout the continent:
- The “Washington Consensus” is collapsing. Argentina
showed the continent where that road leads, and nobody wants to go
down it.
- Instead, people are electing leaders like Lula in Brazil, Gutierrez
in Ecuador, and Chavez in Venezuela. They are also organizing mass
protests: in El Salvador, Peru, and Bolivia against privatization,
in Quito, against the FTAA itself.
- Grassroots organizing is coming of age as apolitical force.
- Latin America claiming its identity as an indigenous continent.
From Chiapas to Cochabamba, indigenous peoples have taken the lead
against the FTAA and Plan Puebla Panama. Indigenous consciousness
transcends borders, and is moving the continent beyond 500 years of
subordination and fragmentation.
- Bush unifying everyone against his policies. This is a global process,
but it is particularly powerful in Latin America, which cannot say
"yes" to itself without saying "no" to the United
States.
- The peoples of the Americas are saying No to war. They have had
enough disappearances, deprivation, and imposition.
Lula echoed this new reality and acknowledged Brazil's role in his
speech to the Forum three days before the closing march. "I wasn't
elected because of the support of a TV channel," he declared. "I
wasn't elected because of the support of the financial institutions.
I wasn't elected because of the support of the big families. And I wasn't
elected because of my intelligence or capacity. I was elected because
of the level of consciousness of the Brazilian people."
CALENDAR
The Hemispheric Campaign to Stop the FTAA
After the World Social Forum ended, 75 people representing 19 countries
adjusted anti-FTAA plans for 2003. The consulta (“People’s
Consultation”) will continue into the fall, and millions of ballots
will be delivered to the trade ministers’ meeting in Miami.
Key dates for the US organizing calendar are:
April 10-15, mobilization in Washington, DC (below).
June 19, all-day hemispheric FTAA meeting hosted by
Jobs with Justice before the start of their national conference in Miami.
June 23-25, the US government is convening an “informal”
ministers’ meeting on agriculture and biotechnology in Sacramento,
California. Disagreements over agriculture are holding up the FTAA and
WTO negotiations, and this meeting will pressure other governments into
pre-Cancun agreements.
September 8-14, hemispheric week of action against
the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Cancun. There will
be one focal day of action September 8 or 9. Actions at US and European
embassies, a continental agrarian work stoppage and highway blockages,
and national actions in countries (it’s the 30th anniversary of
the coup against Allende in Chile) are included.
November 20-21, FTAA ministerial meeting in Miami,
Florida. This may be a presidents’ meeting; it will decide whether
to extend the FTAA negotiating schedule. There will be a hemispheric
day/period of action. Theme: Stop the commitments our governments are
making!
International Day of Action Against Military and Economic Intervention
in Latin America and the Caribbean in Washington!
The Latin America Solidarity Coalition invites you to join thousands
in Washington, DC from April 10-15, 2003. They are organizing a massive
protest rally in the Capital on Sunday, April 13 to say:
- No to “Free Trade”/ Free Market Plans
- No US Military intervention, aid and training
- Close US military bases throughout Latin America and the Caribbean
- Respect indigenous treaty, land, and cultural rights
- End the Drug War’s assault on people of color and the poor
- Amnesty Now! Stop the Attacks against Immigrants
- No to U.S. political intervention in Latin America
The protest will be followed by a march to the World Bank and the IMF
buildings, where their annual Spring meetings take place. The Mobilization
will also include the Latin America Solidarity Conference III with direct
action trainings, educational workshops and strategy sessions, a lobby
day to close the School of the Americas, street theatre, film screenings
and more. Visit www.LASOLIDARITY.org
and/or call (202) 234 3440 for more information.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Northwest Public Hearings on the FTAA
Since the government refuses to hold public hearings where community
members can voice their concerns, we're taking the initiative! Contact
415-621-8100 or msn@mexicosolidarity.org
for more info on the February 4-13 hearings in Medford, Ashland, Eugene,
Portland, Hood River, Salem, Wenatchee, Twisp, and Spokane.
Witness for Peace: 20,000 Ballots by June!
Witness for Peace’s anti-FTAA campaign is exploding, with:
- FTAA Action Packets to be used by the WFP International Team to
orient the almost 400 US citizens who will travel to Latin America
with WFP this year; these packets will also be sent to returning delegates
to be used as tools to change US trade policy
- Plans to collect 20,000 People’s Consultation ballots (www.peoplesconsultation.org/survey.html)
by WFP’s 20th anniversary in June
- A 100 person delegation, with 25 volunteers each to Nicaragua, Colombia,
Mexico and Cuba
- Followed by an intensive political-pressure campaign against the
FTAA, Plan Colombia, Plan Puebla Panama, and CAFTA in DC
The Central American Free Trade Area (CAFTA) talks began Jan. 8 and
Washington’s goal is to complete them by the end of 2003. WFP
will mobilize during each round of CAFTA negotiations (every six weeks
or so) by coordinating letter writing campaigns to newspapers, calling
members of congress, and working with other grassroots. They are also
planning on organizing strongly around the Miami ministerial meeting.
Their website www.witnessforpeace.org
has many excellent resources on the effects of free trade in Latin America.
Boston Group Targets Watertown City Hall
The FTAA Task Force of the Boston Global Action Network has formed working
groups on education and outreach, training activists and informing the
community about upcoming free trade agreements. BGAN has also formed
congressional lobbying and political pressure working groups in 5 of
the 7 Massachusetts congressional districts. Both the educational and
legislative groups are mobilizing as the Task Force starts its first
organizing effort to get city and town councils to approve resolutions
against the FTAA and CAFTA. The group has chosen Watertown as its first
target, and hopes to bring a resolution to the Boston suburb’s
town council by late spring. The Task Force will also be mobilizing
Massachusetts activists to attend LASC’s April Days of Action
in DC, and has plans for an organizing conference in May run by faith-based
activists that focuses on economic injustice and free trade.
An Official FTAA Referendum in Maine?
Bangor PICA is considering a statewide anti-FTAA referendum, and is
looking to brainstorm with organizations interested in similar actions,
in Maine or elsewhere in the US. Contact Bjorn Claeson or Jack McKay
at (207) 947 4203.
Tennessee Teach-in; Network Will Appear on Free
Speech TV!
At the end of last year, the Tennessee Industrial Renewal Network held
a statewide teach-in on the FTAA, bringing together factory workers,
émigrés, and others directly affected by globalization.
Some of their accomplishments:
- Coordination of different responses to the local impact of free
trade, specifically, discussion around setting up fair trade stores
and doing legislative work
- Fostering excitement around issues of fair trade, inspiring local
activism
- Solidification of more local coalitions.
As a result of the teach-in, TIRN was able to send a delegation to
observe the effects of NAFTA in Mexico co-sponsored by Witness for Peace,
where participants had the opportunity to tour factories, listen to
professors, and witness the casualties of free trade first hand. Another
delegation represented TIRN at the January Forum in Porto Alegre.
In February, TIRN will conduct a media workshop to help FTAA activists
and others develop a media strategy. Free Speech TV will be on site,
giving participants the opportunity to practice their interviewing skills
while the station gathers footage on TIRN for a future program.
Organizing Challenges:
Having Trouble with Your Campaign? Sound off!
Some common challenges anti-FTAA organizers seem to be running into:
- Miami: What are other groups doing to get ready for the Miami ministerial
meeting?
- Funding: How are people raising money to fund their campaigns and
delegations?
- Strategy: What is the national strategy for attacking the FTAA?
Education versus Action, the chicken or the egg; Labor groups are
looking for a clear call to action—is that Miami? The mid-April
rally in DC?
- Unification: How do we bridge the gap between the beltway lobby
strategy and grassroots mobilization?
Have any insights into these challenges? Having other problems with
your FTAA campaigns? Have a success story? E-mail your contributions
to Kate, at KMcMahon@faireconomy.org.
We hope to be able to post these in the near future as a resource on
www.peoplesconsultation.org to get a dialogue going for FTAA activists
to help and inspire each other.
RESOURCES FOR ORGANIZERS
VIDEO AVAILABLE!
Trade Secrets: The Hidden Costs of the FTAA
A new 16 minute video that explains the impact of NAFTA and FTAA on
workers’ rights, the environment, and our democracy. Narrated
by Mike Farrell, the video features three case studies:
- An abandoned battery recycling plant in Tijuana where the US-based
owners deserted over 6000 tons of toxic waste next to an impoverished
community
- The lawsuit filed by Methanex against the US Government because
California decided to phase out the gas additive MTBE due to its pollution
of drinking water;
- The lawsuit filed by UPS against the Canadian Government charging
that the government-run Canadian Postal Service creates unfair competition
for private firms.
The materials include an accompanying workshop curriculum with a set
of fact sheets, background materials, and fun interactive role plays.
$15 each; $10 for orders of 10 or more; and $7.50 for orders of 50 or
more (plus shipping.) Contact the UC Berkeley Labor Center at (510)
642 1583, blasi@uclink.berkeley.edu,
or fill out a mail-in order form at: http://henningcenter.berkeley.edu.
This is a great way to educate people about the dangers of the FTAA!
Over 500 copies sold!
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