[Peace] FW: Join Local Activists to Stop the FTAA!!!

[Ann-Marie Shapiro]

Could somebody forward this to the peace action and peace discuss lists for
me?

Thank you,
Ann-Marie
********************************
There is a local group of people making plans to participate in actions in
Miami, Florida related to the Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations.
We welcome participation from members of other progressive organizations!
Please read below to learn more about the situation and what is at stake.
The success or failure of the FTAA will affect all areas of peace and
justice in important ways. (http://www.flfairtrade.org includes links for
analyses about how the FTAA will affect 11 different issues).

The local group is in the early planning stages.  We are asking for
additional participants to contact us by November 2 (there will be a meeting
at 2 pm that day) to get involved in this stage of planning.  Affinity
groups will be finalized shortly after that time, with specific coordinated
schedules and plans for transportation and housing.  Training will be
offered between November 2 and the FTAA actions.  Anyone who decides to
participate after November 2 is still welcome to hook into our home support,
information resources and whatever assistance we can offer, but after
November 2, individuals will have to take responsibility for finding
transportation and housing.

The contact for our local group is:  N20 at chambana.net


ABOUT THE FTAA--

During November 19-21, 2003, in Miami Florida, trade ministers will continue
negotiations on the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The Free Trade Area of
the Americas (FTAA) is a proposed agreement that would turn the entire
Western Hemisphere (except Cuba) into the largest international trading bloc
in history.
The FTAA, if approved, will essentially be an expansion of the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into 34 countries in the Americas and
the Carribean, affecting the lives of nearly 800 million people. This
constitutes the most ambitious attempt by transnational corporations to
"globalize" the world, as the FTAA will absorb half of the globe into a
homogenous market where corporations can challenge any law, policy or
procedure that isn't to their liking.

For more information about the FTAA:

http://www.ftaaresistance.org
http://www.unitedforpeace.org
http://www.stopftaa.org
http://www.peoplesconsultation.org
http://www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/globaleconomy/ftaamain.cfm
http://www.asje.org/march.html
http://www.flfairtrade.org
http://www.ifg.org/

BACKGROUND: VICTORY IN CANCUN--

In September, the WTO ministerial collapsed, partly due to massive
protests... for more, see http://www.ifg.org/

"Cancun was a double victory.  First, the collapse of the WTO ministerial,
occasioned by the walkout of countries from the global south, instigated by
Kenya.  The many actions inside and outside the conference center, in the
streets and around the world, and the powerful act of protest by Lee
Hyung-Hai who took his own life at the barricades, created an atmosphere in
which the delegates from developing countries could take a strong stand
strong. Only because of the actions, delegates told us, did they feel they
had the support they needed to resist the bullying tactics of the U.S. and
E.U, who refused to consider the agricultural issues which are vital to the
survival of farmers and indigenous cultures throughout the south, but were
pushing for expanded access for investors to the resources of the developing
world.....Second, Cancun brought together activists from the global south
and the
more affluent north, from a broad spectrum of groups, campesinos, workers,
indigenous people, Mexican students, NGOs, peace and ecology groups, and
internationals.  These groups had different organizing styles, political
cultures, histories, cultures and languages.  Vast differences in privilege
and painful historical relationships of oppression separated some of us, yet
we were able to take action together, support each other, and come away with
strengthened alliances and deepened respect." from Starhawk,
www.starhawk.org

WHAT EXACTLY IS AT STAKE?

"The FTAA would extend NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreeement,
throughout the hemisphere.  Its draft includes the same extension of
investors¹ power that was under dispute in the WTO, the same push toward
privatization and commercialization of services, and a clause which allows
corporations to sue governments if they enact environmental, labor or safety
standards or other regulations which cut into profits.
   The same splits between rich and poor, north and south, exist in the FTAA
as were present in Cancun.  Brazil is already talking about a counter-draft.
The developing countries may pressure for reforms or revisions, but they
could also walk out of the negotiations.  If they do, the FTAA too can be
derailed before it is ever put into place.
   What happens on the street in Miami is vitally important.  A second
walkout, so soon after Cancun, would change the global configurations of
power."  again, from Starhawk, www.starhawk.org