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If
You Thought NAFTA Spelled Trouble
by Michelle Steinberg, SF/Bay Area Independent Media Center
Free Trade Area of the Americas: Fueling
the Race to the Bottom
From April 20–22, in Quebec City, Canada, leaders of thirty-four
nations will meet to further the ratification of the Free Trade
Area of the Americas (FTAA), slated for completion before 2005.
This "effort to unite the economies of the Western Hemisphere
[excluding Cuba] into a single free trade arrangement"
began during the Organization of American States’ (OAS)
December 1994 Summit of the Americas in Miami. According to
the OAS, "These [FTAA] negotiations will encompass all
of those areas previously negotiated and which fall within the
World Trade Organization’s ambit, with the goal of going
beyond previously agreed multilateral liberalization within
the Hemisphere, wherever possible."
Similar to the World Trade Organization (WTO), FTAA decisions
occur behind closed doors amongst non-elected officials. The
process involves a three-tiered model of appointed international
representatives: the Trade Ministers of the Western Hemisphere
(who have met four times since 1994), Vice Ministers of Trade,
and nine FTAA Negotiating Groups. While the business community
has direct access to these proceedings, officials have blatantly
rejected the presence of any citizens’ groups. Instead,
they have established the Committee of Government Representatives
on Civil Society Participation, a mechanism that filters all
public concerns through an ineffectual government delegation.
A Recipe for Disaster
If implemented, FTAA policies, a more extreme version of North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), will spread the latter’s
devastating effects throughout the Americas, further broadening
the disparity between rich and poor and destroying the environment,
as corporate interests continue to take precedence above all
else. With its expanded scope of negotiable areas, FTAA will
impact almost every aspect our lives, including workers’
rights, agriculture, healthcare, immigration, education and
the prison industrial complex. The proposed agreement embodies
the neo-liberal principles that have guided "globalization,"
allowing market forces to dictate every interaction. Service
sectors such as schools, medical care, postal delivery, prisons
and water supplies will necessarily become fair game for privatization.
Modeled after NAFTA’s infamous Chapter 11, FTAA will undermine
the regulatory power of sovereign nations by permitting corporations
to initiate "investor-to-state" lawsuits over any
legislation that may impact their profits. For example, a NAFTA
tribunal ordered the Mexican government to pay $16.7 million
in compensation to the U.S. based Metalclad Corporation after
a Mexican state shut down the company’s toxic waste disposal
facility, a contaminant to the local water supply. The ruling
found that despite the site’s destructive effects, the
State Governor’s actions (prompted by the concerned local
community) had violated the corporation’s inalienable "right"
to profit. Furthermore, the exorbitant penalty was based on
the concept of "regulatory expropriation," whereby
a government is responsible for compensating a corporation not
only for actual material loss, but for any potential profits
that could have been attained in the future. Such rulings foster
a system where governments, legally accountable to corporations,
allow business interests to dictate the shape of any future
legislation.
Meanwhile, FTAA’s lack of enforceable labor protections
guarantees that workers throughout the hemisphere will suffer
decreased wages and a decline in working conditions. Corporations
will shuttle around their factories, relocating to countries
that offer the lowest wages and weakest unions. Under NAFTA,
nearly 400,000 jobs have been lost, with re-employed workers
earning an average of 77% of their previous wages. To ensure
the lowest operating expenses in their Mexican maquiladoras,
employers routinely engage in violent union busting. The International
Longshore and Warehouse Union and the United Electrical Workers
Union have both passed resolutions condemning FTAA, citing NAFTA’s
negative impact.
While borders remain wide open to goods and services, people
are not allotted similar privileges. The maintenance of a cheap
workforce requires a "captive audience," as laborers
with the option to migrate would likely seek out better conditions.
Thus, FTAA will inevitably lead to further militarization of
borders and a vicious crack-down on immigration.
FTAA also seeks to extend Intellectual Property Rights (IRP),
the rules which protect corporate patents, allowing a company
with marketing rights in a particular country to maintain an
exclusive patent for the entire region. These laws enable pharmaceutical
companies, for instance, to charge inflated prices for drugs,
while blocking the manufacture of generic versions. In Brazil,
where the government has sponsored an effective program to provide
free AIDS drugs, FTAA will ban the essential generic medicines.
Millions of people, unable to afford the costly brand name alternatives,
will no longer have the option of treatment.
The existing proposals will also force countries to accept any
agricultural imports, effectively breaking down barriers for
large agribusinesses. As cheaper agricultural products flood
their local markets, small family farms (in many countries,
a primary form of subsistence for indigenous populations) are
suddenly unable to compete. Forced off their land by economic
necessity, or actually displaced as governments award land rights
to multinational corporations, many people face factory work
as the only option.
FTAA also prohibits individual governments from banning genetically
modified (GM) foods and seeds. This policy’s implications
for public health and the environment are potentially devastating.
GM seeds contain gene sequences specifically engineered to decrease
a plant’s vulnerability to insects. Unfortunately, the
repercussions of this deliberate toxicity to pests are virtually
unknown. In addition, giant corporations such as Monsanto (coincidentally,
a major manufacturer of Agent Orange in the 1960s) own patents
to the seeds, and often force farmers to sign a pledge that
makes seed replanting illegal, thus ensuring return customers
every season. This presents an economic impossibility for small
farmers, enabling corporate agriculture to triumph again.rise
up, fight back!
An array of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), unions, grassroots
groups and concerned individuals have united to contest FTAA’s
decidedly undemocratic process and its intended goals. Alliance
for Responsible Trade (ART), which includes representatives
of environmental, human-rights, U.S. labor, women’s, family-farm,
development, religious and public-policy organizations, has
presented the Committee of Government Representatives on Civil
Society Participation with "Alternatives for the Americas:
Building a Hemispheric Peoples’ Agreement." The document
contends that "trade and investment should not be ends
in themselves, but rather the instruments for achieving just
and sustainable development. Citizens must have the right to
participate in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation
of hemispheric social and economic policies. Central goals of
these policies should be to promote economic sovereignty, social
welfare, and reduced inequality at all levels."
Broad coalitions are planning massive demonstrations in Quebec
City during the April convention, as well as solidarity actions
along both US/Canadian and US/Mexican borders, and throughout
the Americas and the Caribbean. The Anti-Capitalist Convergence
(CLAC) and Summit of the Americas Welcoming Committee (CASA)
are organizing a Carnival Against Capitalism, which will include
teach-ins, workshops, concerts, street theater, direct action,
protests and more. An autonomous, decentralized, and non-hierarchical
network, CLAC/CASA intends to shut down the anti-democratic
proceedings. The Hemispheric Social Alliance (HSA), a coalition
of organizations and social movements from North, Central and
South America will simultaneously convene in Quebec for the
Second People’s Summit of the Americas, designed to challenge
neo-liberal development models and generate alternative policies.
By January, Canadian border patrol had already begun to turn
away suspected demonstrators. Canadian authorities, preparing
the largest police deployment in the country’s history,
will establish a four square mile security perimeter in downtown
Quebec, surrounded by an enormous metal fence. There are plans
to clear six hundred plus inmates from a local prison for the
duration of the Summit to house arrested protesters. Local legislators
also unsuccessfully attempted to pass a bylaw which would have
made it illegal to "wear or have in your possession a mask,
hood, ski mask, or any other object of the same nature to cover
one’s face, in whole or in part." The intensity of
the state’s authoritarian response is not surprising. As
the overall movement to contest global capitalism continues
to grow, that system’s guardians persist in cutting back
the rights of its opponents.
get involved:
Throughout the Western Hemisphere, preparations are underway,
including teach-ins, organizational meetings, and preliminary
protests. For further information visit:
www.stopftaa.org
Comprehensive resource page, sponsored by Freedom Rising
www.quebec2001.org
CLAC/Carnival Against Capitalism
www.sommetdespeuples.org HAS/People’s Summit of the Americas
www.indymedia.org
Independent Media Center global site, with links to over 40
local IMCs
www.sf.indymedia.org/ftaa/
SF/Bay Area IMCs FTAA feature page
FROM
THE STREETS
Latest Arrests in Connection with FTAA Protests
by MicHelle
Wednesday, April 18, 2001, 10:16pm
Police have begun the latest round of FTAA-related arrests.
As the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Summit draws near,
police have begun the first round of arrests. On the night of
Tuesday, April 16th, six people were taken into custody in Quebec
City on conspiracy charges. They were allegedly caught in possession
of smoke bombs and/or other incendiary devices. An unconfirmed
report stated that one of the individuals has since been released.
Also on Tuesday, one minor was arrested for carrying a weapon.
Authorities apparently targeted the youth because of his "punk
rock" appearance, taking him into custody when their search
revealed a pocketknife. He pled "Not Guilty", and
was released today, on the condition that he steer clear of
further protest activities.
Eyewitnesses have offered unconfirmed reports of four other
arrests: one person at Laval University in Quebec and two in
Montreal. Details on the fourth are, as of yet, unknown.
The Quebec Legal Collective also reports that police have been
detaining a significant number of people, some in connection
with immigration issues. At 5:00pm today in Quebec City, authorities
stopped an RV holding seven members of the independent media,
detaining them for several hours. At least fifteen officers
from several jurisdictions visited the scene, including undercover
agents from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
City Under Seige: QC Update
by IMC Folks
Saturday, April 21, 2001, 1:00am
Update from within the dense cloud of toxic gas that currently
engulfs Quebec City.
At 10:00 pm tonight, hundreds of people were still congregated
at the top of Cote de Abraham, as police continued to lob tear
gas canisters from behind the perimeter. A unit of officers
maintained tight formation on the other side of the fence, their
plastic sheilds gleaming in the streetlights. Over the next
two hours, tear gas from similar skirmishes wafted throughout
the city, affecting demonstrators and non-participating residents
alike, as police indiscriminately launched their silver canisters.
At Rene Levesque, where protesters had toppled the perimeter
earlier in the day, dozens of black-clad, gas-masked officers
slowly advanced upon a scattered crowd. Using police dogs for
maximum intimidation, the authorites repeatedly launched tear
gas projectiles, which the angry onlookers retrieved and returned
with equal fervor.
Around 12:00 am, the police moved along the Cote d`Abraham towards
the Independent Media Center (CMAQ, building), again rifling
relentless tear gas attacks upon the remaining protesters. After
pushing the crowd down the street, the police retracted and
remained stationary, continuing to gas those at the front.
The demonstrators were engaged in no forceful movements towards
police; most people simply waited for the next launch. A couple
of small fires were lit outside CMAQ, which firefighters extinguished
a short time later. A small dumpster and a wooden chair were
amongst the items ignited. Police simultaneously pushed their
way towards the highway overpass above the Art Zone, forcing
protesters onto the bridge.
At 2:00 am, about twenty-five people conducted a peaceful sit-in
outside the Indymedia Center building. Police responded with
the expected barrage of tear gas. An hour later, as a fire again
blazed in the middle of the street, authorities arrived with
a water cannon.
QC Update: Arrests Continue
by MicHelle
Sunday, April 22 2001, 8:48pm
As residual tear gas pollutes the air and people casually roam
Quebec City streets, police continue to traverse the city, carrying
out random arrests.
Sunday, April 22, 3 :45pm
Wandering along the perimeter, we rounded a corner at Rue St.
Patrice and came upon several dozen people milling about, as
two officers patrolled from behind the fence. Suddenly, two
white vans screeched into the alley. Approximately ten cops
jumped out, swiftly grabbing two men. The police roughly jostled
one into the van, while shoving the second against a brick wall.
A small crowd gathered to observe, confronting the police with
shouts of "Fascist" and chants of "Solidarity".
The officers glanced around menacingly and fingered their pepper
spray, before diving back into the vehicle and roaring off.
The police appeared to have targeted the two individuals in
advance. According to a bystander, moments earlier a group of
people had begun shouting at the patrolling officers. Apparently,
one of those arrested had been shaking the chain-link fence.
A policewoman then spoke into a radio, precipitating the vans’
rapid arrival and likely designating the individuals for arrest.
We remained in the alley following the incident, as a demonstrator
recounted an experience from earlier in the day. Walking down
a particularly gas-filled street, he was accosted by two officers
sporting elaborate gas masks. Threatening the young man with
arrest, they instructed him to remove his goggles and ski mask
immediately. He explained that he could not, as they were necessary
for protection from the toxic fumes. They repeated their warning,
allowing him to proceed only after he followed their orders.
As we chatted, two men strolled around the corner on the inside
of the perimeter. They continued along the grass for several
minutes. The patrolling officer approached them and appeared
to request their passes (required for presence behind the fence).
One of the men attempted to hand him a stack of papers instead.
The policeman pushed him violently onto the concrete, pinning
his arms behind his back, and unleashing a flurry of anti-FTAA
flyers. Bystanders rushed over toward the fence, outraged by
the flagrant brutality. Several police vehicles arrived after
a short time later and the men were hustled inside, but not
before one raised his arms in triumph.
Meanwhile, two more men approached the police, displaying their
perimeter passes. Stepping a few yards away from the officers,
they unrolled a large anti-FTAA banner. The crowd cheered, as
the authorities looked on grudgingly. Apparently the possession
of valid passes afforded the men this right, which the police
temporarily chose not to violate.
QC
– Prision Report
By Michelle
The battle continues for those arrested during the FTAA protests.
Quebec Police report 463 arrests in total throughout the FTAA
protests. On Wednesday, April 25th, the Québec Legal
Collective announced that one woman and twenty-nine men still
remained in custody at Prison d`Orsainville . However, this
figure did not include the untold number who had been unable
to contact the outside. One former prisoner recalled being silenced
by police when he attempted to share the legal hotline information
with a fellow activist. Authorities released approximately 200
people between Monday the 23rd and Tuesday the 24th; that many
were freed with no charges pending constitutes strong evidence
of illegal arrests.
Accounts of physical abuse and intimidation tactics by the police
are rampant. Prior to their arrival at the prison, many demonstrators
were held for long hours in buses with no access to restrooms
and limited availability of food and water. Authorities refused
to accommodate prisoners’ dietary restrictions. Medical
treatment was often unavailable; activists frequently had to
agitate before guards administered proper care. Men were stripped
naked in groups and sprayed with cold water to decontaminate
from tear gas. Menstruating women were reportedly denied tampons
and pads. Four to six prisoners were contained in single occupancy
cells.
Some individuals recalled being awakened in the middle of the
night to interrogations by "intelligence personnel."
These officials, who appeared to have U.S. accents, questioned
the prisoners about their political affiliations. In one case,
an American woman was confronted with previous charges committed
as a juvenile that had been supposedly sealed in her record.
Members of the Quebec Legal Collective observed FBI agents’
signatures in the jail’s sign-in book.
At least one protester plans to launch a class-action lawsuit
against the police for brutality. One of several incidents occurred
after authorities denied the woman access to an attorney. When
she began chanting in protest, six riot police suddenly pinned
her to the ground. As they dragged her across the jail courtyard,
the woman’s sweatpants slid down. She was left half-naked
as the guards had failed to supply her with underwear. These
events took place in front of several Summit of the Americas
employees who were present in the yard. Police later dropped
the woman’s charges, likely in an attempt to stem the repercussions
of their misconduct.
Across the board, both charges and the corresponding penalties
were administered in a decidedly arbitrary fashion. One man
who was freed without charges mentioned that his friend, who
had been standing next to him when arrested, remained incarcerated
on substantial bail. In another instance, the police designated
a demonstrator’s drumsticks as parts of an explosive device.
When authorities raided a free food station, they took one man
into custody for simply inquiring about the return of pans and
food supplies. Jaggi Singh, a well-known spokesperson for the
Anti-Capitalistic Convergence (CLAC), has been denied bail and
will potentially remain in custody until his trial, which could
be several months away. Officers specifically targeted men,
as reflected in the arrest ratio. On Monday night, only 17 of
the remaining 253 prisoners were women.
Massive amounts of confusion reigned over the release proceedings.
In some cases, police processed and received bail from activists,
but then failed to release them. Officials closed the bail window
unexpectedly early on Tuesday. Bail generally ranged from $100-500,
with the majority fixed at $300. There are reports of intentional
mishandling of people after release. In several instances, freed
demonstrators were dropped off at distant locations across the
city, which directly contradicted the addresses given to supporters.
Activists have been conducting solidarity actions both inside
and outside the prison. At one point, approximately 30 prisoners
refused to provide their names; a number of these individuals
participated in a hunger strike. From the weekend onwards, an
average of 50 people maintained a solidarity vigil in front
of the prison, chanting their support and serving warm meals
to the recently released. 10,000 students at 3 colleges in Montreal
held a general strike, refusing to go to classes in solidarity
with the prisoners. On Wednesday afternoon, CLAC/CASA sponsored
a demonstration calling for the activists’ release. Legal
fund donations can be sent to Quebec Legal Defence, 1615 Bernard,
Outremont, Quebec H2V 1X2; visit quebec2001.org
for further details.
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