[Imc] Fw: (ftaa-l) City of Santa Cruz passes resolution denouncing the FTAA! (fwd)

[Molly Stentz]

>--PRESS RELEASE-- PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY--
>
>March 13th, 2001
>
>Posted by:
>The Santa Cruz Coalition Against the FTAA) - (SCAF)
>
>----
>Santa Cruz, CA - On Tuesday, March 13, the Santa
>Cruz City Council voted to officially oppose the
>Free Trade Area of the Americas, becoming perhaps
>the first municipality in the country to do so.
>   In a 6-1 vote, the city council passed a
>resolution calling for the U.S. Trade
>Representative to withdraw from any further
>negotiations on the proposed FTAA. The council
>was urged to act by the Santa Cruz Coalition
>Against the FTAA, an ad-hoc group of local
>activists. Mayor Tim Fitzmaurice, a Green Party
>member, agreed to introduce the resolution to the
>rest of the council.
>   The FTAA will be the focus of the April 20-22
>Summit of the Americas meeting in Quebec City,
>where the 34 "democratically elected" heads of
>state from North, South and Central America and
>the Caribbean will meet. The FTAA combines
>elements of the North American Free Trade
>Agreement and the World Trade Organization and
>would encompass the entire Western Hemisphere,
>excluding Cuba.
>   Santa Cruz joins Vancouver, Canada in
>officially opposing the FTAA. While local
>resolutions don't have a direct impact on the
>status of the FTAA negotiations, they do draw
>public scrutiny to what has otherwise been a
>secretive process aided by a mainstream media
>blackout.
>   "Local resolutions like this one have been
>instrumental in defeating other destructive trade
>agreements such as the Multilateral Agreement on
>Investment," states the resolution.
>   The Santa Cruz Coalition Against the FTAA is
>currently organizing affinity groups that will
>participate in non-violent direct action in
>Quebec and at national borders during the Summit
>of Americas on April 20-22. It is also organizing
>a direct action training camp, which will take
>place on the UC Santa Cruz campus Saturday, March
>31. Visit www.stopftaa.org/sc for more
>information.
>   Other local groups opposing the FTAA include
>the Santa Cruz Green Party, the Santa Cruz Direct
>Action Network Against Corporate Globalization,
>the Student Media Activist Coalition, the Santa
>Cruz Coalition to Free Mumia and All Political
>Prisoners, People Power, and the Santa Cruz
>chapter of the Alliance for Democracy.
>   The text of the Santa Cruz resolution:
>   Whereas, the Free Trade Area of the Americas
>(FTAA) is an expansion of the North American Free
>Trade Agreement (NAFTA); and
>   Whereas, the FTAA was initiated in 1994 by the
>34 countries of North and South America
>(excluding Cuba) and would create the world's
>largest free market zone - affecting 650 million
>people and $9 trillion in capital; and
>    Whereas, NAFTA's Chapter 11 Investor to State
>Lawsuits, which will be included and strengthened
>in the FTAA, directly threaten the sovereignty of
>local and state governments; and
>    Whereas, this sort of corporate power would
>diminish the efficacy of local environmental laws
>and regulations; and
>    Whereas, the FTAA will undermine the social
>services that are essential for a thriving
>community; and
>    Whereas, the strict intellectual property
>laws within the FTAA will have devastating
>impacts on the people living in the global south;
>and
>    Whereas, local businesses and workers would
>be harmed by the increasing powers granted to
>large corporations; and
>    Whereas, local resolutions like this one have
>been instrumental in defeating other destructive
>trade agreements such as the Multilateral
>Agreement on Investment.
>    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City
>Council of the City of Santa Cruz that it hereby:
>    1. opposes the FTAA;
>    2. petitions the Federal government to refuse
>to sign any new trade agreement and investment
>agreements, such as the proposed FTAA, that
>include investor-state provisions similar to the
>ones included in NAFTA;
>    3. urges the U.S. Trade Representative to
>withdraw any further negotiation on the FTAA;
>    4. requests the U.S. Trade Representative to
>release proposals for the agreement and written
>submissions to the nine negotiating groups of the
>FTAA;
>    5. requests the release of a comprehensive
>list of the representatives to the FTAA
>negotiating groups from all 34 countries
>involved; and
>    6. urges the State Legislature to adopt
>stronger sovereignty safeguards in implementing
>legislation for the FTAA and other trade
>agreements, now and in the future; and
>    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Mayor is
>authorized to communicate the City's position to
>the U.S. Trade Representative, State Legislature
>and Congressional committees with trade
>jurisdiction.
>
>for more information email smacruz at onebox.com
>
>
>
>
>---------------------------- ftaa-l -----------------------------
>resisting the FTAA and capitalist globalization
>mobilizing for Quebec City, April 2001
>creating alternatives
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