Call For Mass Nonviolent Direct Action Against The FTAA

To endorse this call to action, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/endorseftaa ------------------------------------------- Trade ministers from 34 countries will meet in Miami from November 19-21 to negotiate the Free Trade Area of the Americas, an agreement that would extend the failed NAFTA model of corporate globalization throughout the Western Hemisphere. Local and national groups across the hemisphere are mobilizing for a massive showing of opposition to this new trade policy, in order to demonstrate that another world is possible. A broad hemispheric coalition against the FTAA will deliver hundreds of thousands of ballots to the delegates at the Summit, representing the millions of people who will not be able to attend. For those of us who can attend, now is the time. If you have ever thought about attending a major global justice summit, this is it! In Cancun, we derailed the WTO: now we have a crucial opportunity to carry the momentum forward and derail the FTAA. The failure of the WTO makes regional trade agreements such as the FTAA the leading edge of the Bush Administration’s corporate global policy and reckless drive for empire. This is the same drive that led to the pre-emptive war on Iraq and lies behind the ongoing assault on civil liberties and immigrant rights in the U.S. To defeat this empire-building agenda, we must unite against economic domination and military aggression and struggle together for a world rooted in cooperation, sustainability, dignity, respect and peace. In addition to supporting the large-scale mobilization, involving a wide range of legal and permitted activities, we are calling for massive nonviolent direct action in Miami November 19-21 to disrupt and derail the FTAA. The process of negotiating the FTAA has been so undemocratic that our opposition cannot be expressed through ordinary channels. Through direct action, we can to demonstrate the breadth and depth of our opposition to its policies and make visible the alternative we stand for, a world of peace, democracy, community, environmental balance and shared abundance. By direct action we mean... action that directly confronts oppressive power, that interferes with its functioning and withdraws our consent from its institutions. Our direct action – following in the footsteps of resistance movements in Bolivia, El Salvador, and elsewhere in the Global South – can take many forms, from street theater, to symbolic actions, sit-ins, trespass actions, blockades, etc. We will take action in a spirit of solidarity and respect toward the broad range of forces mobilizing against the FTAA in Miami. By “nonviolent” we mean... actions that maximize respect for life, that embody the compassion, creativity, and direct democracy of the world we are creating, actions that respect the lives, needs and concerns of the people of Miami and those who have come to protest the FTAA and that encourage all to join us. Why now? Miami is a strategic opportunity. In Cancun, the World Trade Organization fell apart due to a walk out by delegates of the Global South, supported by demonstrations of popular opposition in the streets. The same internal split between North and South, rich and poor, exists within the members of the FTAA. Strong, popular opposition in the streets can help dissidents within stand strong against pressure and bullying from the United States. The FTAA, too, can fail. We need massive numbers in the streets of Miami to stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers of the Global South, demonstrating that the majority of the people in the more affluent north reject the policies of neoliberalism—a system that concentrates power and wealth in the hands of the few. We also need massive numbers to change history by engaging in nonviolent direct action—an essential part of every successful social justice movement in US history. OUR GOALS: • Mobilize massive popular opposition that can support and strengthen opposition within the FTAA. • Disrupt and derail the FTAA meetings, actively withdrawing our compliance from this agreement. • Build solidarity between diverse communities as we work to oppose economic exploitation, militarism, and environmental devastation TAKE ACTION! We call on students, farmers, indigenous people, workers, unemployed and union members, people of faith, campesinos, parents, differently-abled, lesbian, gay, bi and trans—everyone, everywhere, of every race, gender and creed – young and old—let us join together to resist the policies and institutions that are destroying our world! Now is the time to RISE UP and resist empire and corporate global injustice and to join in a celebration of our humanity and solidarity as we create, live and dream a better world into life! WHAT YOU CAN DO: • Educate, organize, fundraise and mobilize within your organizations/community to: send people to Miami, participate in the broad range of activities being planned there, bring representatives from the Global South, and do home support and solidarity actions in your own communities. • Endorse this Call to Action as quickly as possible. Visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/endorseftaa to make your endorsement online • Donate money, as an individual or an organization. We urgently need thousands of dollars to organize massive resistance to the FTAA. United for Peace and Justice has established a fund to support FTAA organizing; you can donate online at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/ftaadonate or by sending a check to UFPJ, P.O. Box 607, Times Square Station, New York, NY 10108 (be sure to note that the contribution is for FTAA work). • Form affinity groups now! (AGs are small groups which will take action together or cluster with other affinity groups for action). The success of nonviolent direct action depends on people coming to Miami as pre-organized as possible. Please consider organizing a cluster of groups from your area or constituency. Representatives are invited to take part in conference calls, action coordination spokescouncils and to join onto the following listserv: ftaa-da-subscribe@lists.riseup.net • Participate in the FTAA ballot campaign, a massive popular referendum against the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Cast your vote online at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/ftaavote or distribute ballots from the Citizens Trade Campaign website, http://www.citizenstrade.org/ftaa_ballot.php • Continue the struggle after Miami. We strongly encourage everyone participating in the Miami mobilization to travel to Ft. Benning, GA, to help shut down the School of the Americas on November 22–23. This U.S. military combat training school for Latin American soldiers provides the military muscle to enforce unpopular policies of corporate globalization throughout the hemisphere and has been linked to some of Latin America’s worst human rights abuses. For more information, see SOA Watch (http://www.soaw.org) and the Latin American Solidarity Coalition (http://www.lasolidarity.org) Initiated by United for Peace and Justice ENDORSERS • Arlington United for Justice With Peace (Arlington, MA) • Boston United for Justice with Peace • Campaign to End the Cycle of Violence (Chapel Hill, NC) • Coalition Against Global Exploitation (Baltimore, MD) • Direct Action to Stop the War (San Francisco, CA) • Global Exchange (San Francisco, CA) • Global Justice Ecology Project (Hinesburg, VT) • Institute for Social Ecology Biotechnology Project (Plainfield, VT) • Mobilization for Global Justice (Washington, DC) • National Youth and Student Peace Coalition • Northwest Resistance Against Genetic Engineering (Portland, OR) • Pagan Cluster • Pittsburgh Organizing Group • Rainforest Action Network (San Francisco, CA) • RANT Trainers Network • School of the Americas Watch (Washington, DC) • United for Peace and Justice • War Resisters League • Women\'s International League for Peace and Freedom, United States Section ============================= SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT DIRECT ACTION IN MIAMI, AND DIRECT ACTION MORE GENERALLY: • United for Peace and Justice: http://www.unitedforpeace.org • Stop the FTAA: http://www.stopftaa.org • FTAA Resistance: http://www.ftaaresistance.org • Free Carnival Area of the Americas: http://www.mediamouse.org/fcaa • RANT Trainers Collective: http://www.rantcollective.org • Direct Action to Stop the War: http://www.actagainstwar.org/ SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE FTAA AND THE MIAMI MOBILIZATION: • FTAA Independent Media Center: http://www.ftaaimc.org • Florida Fair Trade Coalition: http://flfairtrade.org/ • Citizens Trade Campaign: http://www.citizenstrade.org/stopftaa.php • Global Exchange: http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/ftaa/ • American Friends Service Committee: http://www.afsc.org/trade/learn/default.htm • Public Citizen: http://www.citizen.org/trade/ftaa/ • Jobs With Justice: http://www.jwj.org/global/FTAA/stopFTAA.htm • People’s Consultation on the FTAA: http://www.peoplesconsultation.org • Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Economy: http://www.asje.org/march.html • Alianza Social Continental (Hemispheric Social Alliance): http://www.asc-hsa.org