Fair Trade
PEOPLE'S DECLARATION AGAINST FREE TRADE
December 10, 2002
On behalf of more than 30 sponsoring organizations
from Central America and the US, and hundreds of organizational
and individual signers, we invite you and your organization to
join the growing movement against CAFTA - the US-Central America
Free Trade Agreement. We are seeking signers for the People’s
Declaration Against Free Trade (sponsoring organizations are listed
on the statement below, and attached).
To sign on to the Declaration, please fill out the form below
and email it to cafta@cispes.org
As you may know, the governments of the US, Costa Rica, Nicaragua,
Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, have announced their intention
to negotiate the Central America Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA.
CAFTA is a continuation of the same policies put forward in the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Instead of improving
the quality of life for the majority of people in Canada, the
United States, and Mexico as promised, NAFTA created disastrous
consequences for workers, small scale farmers, and environmental
protection laws in the three countries. Since its implementation
in 1994 the percentage of the Mexican population living in poverty
rose from 58.5% to 79%. At the same time, over 700,000 decent
paying jobs were lost in the United States due to NAFTA.
Although negotiations are scheduled to begin in January 2003,
no draft text of the negotiating strategies of any of the countries
has been made available either to Congress and National Assemblies
or the general U.S. or Central American public. The CAFTA negotiation
process is completely lacking in transparency. There is little
official opportunity for meaningful public comment, minimal oversight
of negotiations from elected officials, and no public disclosure
of negotiating points. The space for negotiation is such that
the few who benefit from Free Trade Treaties, namely wealthy multinational
corporations, are given opportunity to view draft texts and offer
their opinions and approval, while the millions whose quality
of life, independence, health, economic stability, and traditions
will be adversely affected have virtually no say.
A key reason the US is pushing CAFTA so strongly now is the strategic
role it will play in advancing the FTAA. If CAFTA is passed, it
will establish a unified block of 6 countries (US + Central America)
in the FTAA negotiations. It will also pressure the larger Latin
American economies, such as Brazil, to give in to US demands in
the negotiations. The struggle to stop CAFTA will slow down and,
potentially, help kill the formation of the FTAA.
We invite you and your organization to join
the growing movement against CAFTA. We are circulating the following
declaration against CAFTA (see text below, and attached) and invite
you to sign on to it. The statement was written by social movement
organizations in Central America that are working to oppose CAFTA.
Their letter is a clear and powerful statement condemning this
free trade agreement and a call for us to unite with them in defeating
CAFTA.
The statement and signers we received by November
29 were officially submitted to the US Trade Representative Office
as part of their Public Commentary on CAFTA. In January, the statement
and signers will be sent to the Trade Ministers and governments
of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
A condensed version of the statement, along with organizational
signers, will be placed as a paid ad in the main daily newspapers
in Central America, concurrent with the rounds of negotiations
taking place in each country.
The current schedule for negotiations (and
ad placement) are:
January 27-30 Round one in Costa Rica; January
22 deadline to be included in the ad .
February 24-28 Round two in El Salvador; February 19 deadline
to be included in the ad.
March 31-April 4: Round three in the US; we are exploring options
for a US ad
May 12-16: Round four in Guatemala; May 7 deadline to be included
in the ad
June 16-20: Round five in Honduras; June 9 deadline to be included
in the ad
July 28-Aug. 1: Round six in the US
September 8-12: Round seven in Nicaragua; September 3 deadline
to be included in the ad.
We are also asking for donations from groups
in the global north (US, Canada, etc.) to help cover the cost
of placing the ads in Central America. In order to place a full-page
ad in each of the 5 countries, we must raise at least $8,000.
We have already received commitments for $1500. We are asking
a suggested donation of $100-200 from national organizations and
$25-50 from local organizations to sign on. Of course, a donation
is not required to sign on. If you can give more, great; if you
can't give that much, that's okay, too. We also encourage individuals
to donate (Space limitations may prevent us from listing individual
names in the ads). Any money raised beyond the cost of the ads
will be used to further anti-CAFTA organizing in Central America
and the US.
For more information, email: cafta@cispes.org, check out the webpage
www.cispes.org/english/Campaign_Against_CAFTA_FTAA/index.html
or call 212-465-8115 (CISPES), 301-699-0042 (Quest for Peace),
or 202-518-7638 (NISGUA)
Email the following form to cafta@cispes.org
______ Yes, sign me/us on to the People's
Declaration Against Free Trade
Name ____________________________________
Organization Name (in English) ___________________________________________
Organization Name (in Spanish) __________________________________________
______ We need to be contacted if the statement is changed in
any way (i.e. condensed for use in the paid ad) in order to re-sign.
Contact info: (email, phone, address) ___________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Yes! We'll help defray the costs of the paid ads. We are mailing
our donation of:
______ $100-200 suggested for national organizations
______ $25-50 suggested for local organizations
______ other (please specify)
Please mail donations to:
IDA-LASC (with CAFTA Ad in the memo)
c/o CISPES Ed. Fund
P.O. Box 1551
NY, NY 10159
PEOPLE'S DECLARATION
AGAINST FREE TRADE
Based on our experience and work, the undersigned organizations
emphatically reject existing agreements on trade and investment
as well as those which are in the process of being negotiated
such as the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas), CAFTA (US-Central
America Free Trade Agreement) and the PPP (Plan Puebla Panama).
These agreements do not generate sustainable development or create
better jobs. On the contrary, they increase public debt; threaten
our historic, cultural and natural wealth; and destroy national
sovereignty and food security. These free trade agreements undermine
our people's struggle for a democratic culture that promotes justice
and equality.
The free trade treaties and the PPP are agreements that form part
of the hemispheric agenda of the United States government. The
FTAA is one of the hegemonic objectives of this agenda and is
accompanied by a heavy political -military component. The trade
agreements serve as the mechanism through which national legal
frameworks are modified, subordinating national legislation to
the interests of transnational capital and eliminating any possibility
to regulate foreign investment.
This exclusionary model promotes the privatization of public services,
including water, health, social security, education, electricity
and telecommunications. In Mesoamerica, the PPP advances the establishment
of the FTAA by facilitating multinational corporate investment
and providing the infrastructure and legal basis for the continued
exploitation of our resources.
The FTAA and CAFTA, if implemented, would reaffirm and deepen
the direction which existing trade agreements have set, including:
free access for foreign corporations to government contracts and
bidding; prohibitions on our national states which impede application
of capital controls, enabling corporations to sue a State in secret
international tribunals for perceived profit loss due to established
State regulations; and the protection of intellectual property
rights and patent regimes.
The FTAA and CAFTA, if implemented, would promote a liberalized
energy policy (controlled by transnational corporations which
generate, transmit and distribute energy,) a continental water
market and a profit driven agro-business system that produces
genetically modified food under the control of corporate interests
in the United States. The FTAA would also promote the liberalization
of strategic activities that until now have been state controlled,
such as: petroleum, natural gas, water resources, forest reserves
and biodiversity, which represent attractive niches for foreign,
private investment.
The winners in the CAFTA, FTAA and PPP are transnational corporations
and their intermediaries at the national level. The effects would
be the commodification of public services essential for life,
the sale of natural resources, increasingly precarious working
conditions, higher unemployment and deteriorating health†
as a result of genetically modified food consumption.
In addition to these effects, these proposals are effectively
supported by active counterinsurgency projects. We issue a special
call to adopt a firm and aggressive stance against the remilitarization
of the region promoted by the government of the United States
with the collaboration of the respective Central American governments.
For these reasons, the undersigned organizations express our fierce
opposition to the FTAA, CAFTA, PPP project because of the damage
and negative impact that it will have on the human rights of the
people of Central America. It is important to underscore the lack
of opportunity the countries of Central America have had to exercise
their right to self-determination and the construction of a different
Central America. We also emphasize the particular nature of the
impact of these processes on socially vulnerable sectors such
as women, youth and children.
In response, we demand:
1. Stop the privatization of public services underway in Central
America and the United States and reverse those which have already
been completed.
2. Resolve the enormous problems that affect our countries rather
than waiting for concessions and advantages conferred by others.
Instead of solving the problems of inequality, poverty, production
crisis and low level of competitiveness, these practices exacerbate
and accentuate social exclusion in which women, youth and children
are the principally affected sectors.
3. Place the interests of the people of Central America and the
United States before the interests of transnational corporations
and national economic elites by defining national projects and
development plans with the participation of everyone.
4. Radically transform the structure of land tenure and use through
agrarian reform. Protect and promote decent conditions for access
to production inputs, markets and solidarity with and among the
true producers of national wealth.
5. Abandon compliance with neoliberal policies from Washington
and advance Central American and U.S opposition to the FTAA, CAFTA
and PPP.
6. Demand payment of the ecological debt and reject payment of
the external debt as an instrument of economic and financial power
that is used to maintain the current model of dependency and resource
extraction.
7. Create national conditions for public debate on the negative
impacts of the FTAA, CAFTA and PPP with the Ministers of Economy,
Commerce, and Trade.
8. Eliminate the presence of U.S. troops in the region and reject
any attempt to remilitarize our societies, as well as all forms
of military or diplomatic aggression on the part of the United
States. We demand that our countries not be used for military
purposes or to invade others. Of particular concern is the case
of Plan Colombia.
9. Deepen the conversations regarding migration. Authorities should
provide immediate attention to those affected by this crisis.
10. Resolve immediately the demands of indigenous people for land,
justice and dignity. Respect the rights of indigenous peoples,
ratify and apply Convention 169 of the ILO.
NO FTAA, CAFTA AND PPP
ANOTHER AMERICA IS POSSIBLE
Signed:
ACERCA - Action for Community and Ecology in the Regions of Central
America, a Project of ASEJ, USA
Asociación De Trabajadores Del Campo. Nicaragua
Bloque Popular Centroamericano (Central American Popular Block)
Campaign for Labor Rights, USA
Centro de Estudios Internacionales (CEI) de Nicaragua (Center
for International Studies), Nicaragua
CESTA-Amigos De La Tierra, El Salvador
CEIBA, Guatemala
CISPES - Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador,
USA
COECO/CEIBA-Amigos De La Tierra, Costa Rica
Convergencia De Movimientos De Los Pueblos De Las Américas.
COMPA, Honduras
Coordinadora Nacional Indígena Y Campesina De Guatemala
COMPALCIHT: Tipitapa Municipal Coordinator for Sister City Projects,
Nicaragua
CRIPDES, part of the Civil Society Forum, El Salvador
Dos Pueblos: The New York - Tipitapa Sister City Project, USA
EPICA - Ecumenical Project on Central America, USA
Eugene CISCAP-Committee in Solidarity with the Central American
People, USA
Federación De Asociaciones Cooperativas Pesqueras Artesanales
De El Salvador
FESTRASPES - Federacion Salvadoreño de Trabajadores Publicos
de El Salvador, El Salvador
Grassroots International, USA
Guatemala Human Rights Commission, USA
HonduraSol - A Project of Nonviolence International, USA
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Massachusetts Chapter,
USA
LASC - Latin America Solidarity Coalition, USA
Marin Interfaith Task Force on Central America, USA
Mesa Global, Guatemala
Mujeres Y Economía De El Salvador: REMTE, El Salvador
Nicaragua Network, USA
NISGUA - Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala, USA
Plataforma Nacional de Lucha Contra el ALCA, PPP y CAFTA / COMPA,
Costa Rica
Quest for Peace / Quixote Center, USA
Red Nacional de Consumidores (National Network of Consumers),
Nicaragua
SHARE Foundation: Building a New El Salvador Today, USA
SINTI TECHAN Citizen's Action Network on Commerce and Investment,
El Salvador
SUTTEL - Telecommunication Workers' Union of El Salvador
United for a Fair Economy, USA
U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities, USA
Witness for Peace, USA
ACT UP East Bay, Oakland, CA, USA
ANDHISSS (Associación Nacional de Derechohabientes del
Instituto Salvadoreño del Seguro Social), El Salvador
Baltimore Action for Justice in the Americas, USA
Benedictine Sisters, Joplin, MO, USA
Binghamton - El Charcón (El Salvador) Sister City Project,
USA
Boston Global Action Network FTAA Task Force, USA
Cambridge El Salvador Sister Project, USA
Canadian Federation of Students - Quebec Component, Canada
CDC (Centro para la Defensa del Consumidor), El Salvador
Centro de Asistencia Legal a Pueblos Indigenas, Nicaragua
Christian Foundation for Children and Aging, USA
CIS-DC Zapatistas, USA
CISPES Albany, NY, USA
CISPES Austin, TX, USA
CISPES Boston, MA, USA
CISPES Los Angeles, CA, USA
CISPES New York, NY, USA
CISPES Olympia, WA, USA
CISPES San Francisco, CA, USA
CISPES Seattle, WA, USA
CISPES Washington, DC, USA
Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras, USA
Coalition of Immokalee Workers, USA
Committee for a New Colombia, USA
Community Action for Justice in the Americas (CAJA), USA
Cuba Education Tours and Books Collective, Canada
The Development GAP, USA
Las Dignas, El Salvador
Ecotourism Watch, Germany
Eastern Townships Social Justice Committee, Quebec, Canada
Federacion Nacional de Sindicatos Textil, Vestuario, Nicaragua
Foro de la Sociedad Civil, El Salvador
Fundación Nejapa, El Salvador
FUNDASPAD (Fundación Salvadoreño para la Paz y el
Desarrollo), El Salvador
Global Exchange, USA
Global Impact, USA
Guatemalans and friends of Gautemala in Northern California, USA
Greater Kansas City Fair Trade Coalition, USA
Grupo Quetzal, USA
Hitec Aztec Communications, USA
Indigenous Tourism Rights International, USA
InterAlianza, USA
International Labor Rights Fund, USA
L@s Nadies, Costa Rica
The Latin America/Caribbean Committee of the Loretto Community,
USA
Latin America Task Force of Catholics for Justice (Diocese of
Kansas City-St. Joseph), USA
MAM (Movimiento de Mujeres "Mélida Anaya Montes"),
El Salvador
Mexico Solidarity Network, USA
Missoula Jubilee Network, USA
Native Forest Network, USA
Nicaragua Center for Community Action, USA
Nicaragua Partnership of Ascension Lutheran Church, USA
Palmyra Church of the Brethren, USA
Peace and Justice Ministries, Penn Central UCC, USA
Portland Central America Solidarity Committee, USA
Power, USA
Prescott Food Not Bombs, USA
Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty and Genocide,
USA
Rights Action, USA
Rochester Comm. on Latin America, USA
Romero Interfaith Center, Philadelphia - Las Anonas Sister Cities,
U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities Network, USA
San Francisco Labor Council, USA
SIES (Sindicato de la Industria Eléctrica de El Salvador,
El Salvador
Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, USA
Sisters of the Holy Names Justice and Peace Committee, N.Y Province,
USA
Sisters of Mercy, USA
SITEAIES (Sind. de Trabajadores por Establecimiento del Aeropuerto
Internacional de El Salv.), El Salvador
SITRAFOSVI (Sindicato de los Trabajadores de la Fondo Social para
la Vivienda), El Salvador
SITRASALUD (Sindicato de Trabajadores de Salud), El Salvador
The Social Justice Committee (Canada)
SosteNica - the Sustainable Development Fund of Nicaragua, USA
STISSS (Sindicato de Trabajadores del Instituto Salvadoreño
del Seguro Social), El Salvador
STSEL (Sindicato de Industria de los Trabajadores del Sector Eléctrico),
El Salvador
TecNica, USA
Toledo Area Committee on Central America, USA
Tropico Verde Environmental Organization, Guatemala
Unitarian Universalist Central America Network (UUCAN), USA
United for a Fair Economy, USA
University of Dayton, OH-Pax Christi, USA
Veterans for Peace-Colville, USA
WI Mfd Homeowners Association, Inc, USA
Wisconsin Fair Trade Campaign, USA
+ hundreds of individuals
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