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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 will be following in the footsteps of resistance
movements in Bolivia, El Salvador, and elsewhere
in the Global South. It 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: