Hemispheric Social Alliance Bulletin October 27, 2008
1. Social Assembly in Jujuy, Argentina concludes- The Social Assembly began on Friday October 24th as an initiative of social organizations in the entire country, led by the Argentina Workers Central (CTA). As expressed in the words of the CTA president Victor de Genaro, the objective of the gathering wais to create a space for building an alternative force in the Argentinean political panorama. This movement is not directly connected to the Justicialista party of the government, but rather looks to bring together diverse tendencies from the Argentinean left.
More information (in Spanish):
Discurso de cierre: http://www.agenciapulsar.org/nota.php?id=13883
http://marencochenoticias.wordpress.com/?s=constituyente+social
2. Historic agreement removes obstacles and leads to agreement on a Referendum for a New Constitution in Bolivia- Opposition party members, official party members and political analysts agreed that this historic political agreement, which was agreed to by the four political party forces in the parliament, which made possible the approval of the law which sets January 25, 2009 as the date for a referendum on the Constitution cleared away the huge obstacles which previously prevented an agreement for moving forward.
The director of the OAS office of Prevention and Resolution of Conflicts, Raul Lagos recognized the political agreement as an historical triumph. The Minister of Rural Development, Carlos Romero, the head of the ‘National Unity' party, the head of the ‘Democratic Social Power' party, Samuel Doria Medina; the head of the Democratic Social Power- Podemos, Jorge Tutu Quiroga and the political analyst Carlo Cordero all considered that the agreement should be respected. Even the vice-president of the Federation of the Associations of Municipalities of Bolivia (FMA), Luid Revilla demonstrated his satisfaction, because they respected the agreements of Cochabamba regarding autonomy and he said that we all have to work for the Constitution's approval.
More information (in Spanish):
http://abi.bo/index.php?i=noticias_texto_paleta&j=20081022112708&k=
3. The "Solidarity with Bolivia" event opens in Bolivia with representatives of Indigenous Peoples from the entire continent- From all over the continent, hundreds of indigenous people arrived to Santa Cruz of the Mountains to participate in the International Encounter of Solidarity with Bolivia. Delegations from The North American Indigenous Nations, Central American and from all over the continent arrived in caravans who as they arrived gave thanks to the "Pachamama". The international Encounter was called by the Andean Coordination of Indigenous Organizations (CAIO), CONAIE and ECUARUNARI from Ecuador, ONIC of Colombia, The ‘Movimiento Sin Tierra' of Brazil, the Lafkenche of Chile, CONACAMI of Peru, organizations from Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua. The International Encounter is analyzing the historical process of struggle of the Bolivian people: the inheritance of Tupac Katari, Bartolina Sisa and Che. The war for Water, the nationalization of natural resources, the Political Constitution (Sumak Kawsay/Live Well) and the perspectives of liberation. They also denounced and planned actions against the interventionism of the U.S. and the oligarchy, discussing the role of the indigenous organizations in the construction of the democracy from the peoples and for the peoples. They will gather testimonies of violations of human rights in Bolivia by the separatists and terrorists.
More information (in Spanish):
http://www.prensalatina.com.mx/article.asp?ID=%7B4E4987F0-1523-4645-94EF-E32075E1FE27%7D)
http://www.elmorrocotudo.cl/admin/render/noticia/17862
http://www.agenciapulsar.org/nota.php?id=13866
4. In Peru the people rise up, organized by the Movement of the Summit of the Peoples, against decrees which regulate FTA issues and criminalize social protest- More than 500 representatives of local organizations, poor farmers, union members, women, students from urban areas and from the social movements in general met on Sunday October 12th in a National Assembly of the Movement Summit of the Peoples(MCP). They agreed to began a national action on October 20th in the Macro Sur Region which would progressively extend to the whole country.
President Alan Garcia Perez had announced through his spokespeople that he would be visiting the Puno region, where this action was happening, but for an unknown reason, he never arrived, and the population of the district of Pucará felt defrauded.
More information (in Spanish):
http://www.kaosenlared.net/noticia/peru-movimiento-cumbre-pueblos-acuerda-levantamiento-nacional
http://www.losandes.com.pe/index.php?c=noticia&id=16426
5. The 7th Encounter of the World March of Women (with a central theme of food sovereignty) ends- The 7th International Encounter of the World March of Women was held between October 14-21 in Vigo, Galacia (in the north of Spain. During the inauguration, on Wednesday the 15th, the participants included 82 delegates from 42 countries as well as 25 special invitees from networks and social movements allied with the March. The theme of the event was "Women Marching until we are all free", and the principal objective was to define and organize the next global action of the March, which will happen in 2010. The encounter was an opportunity to discuss and develop the four areas of action of the March, deepen debates and knowledge regarding a variety of feminist themes- such as the mercantilization of life and the bodies of women, the offensive from the right against the autonomy of women, and other themes, as well as realizing the General Assembly.
More information (in Spanish):
Entrevista con Miriam Nobre, secretaria general de la MMM, para Rebelión:
http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=74061
En gallego con video: http://www.feminismo.info/webgalego
6. Mobilizations continue in Colombia after a successful National Work Stoppage- A 24 hour work stoppage was carried out in all of Colombia, to support the cane workers and women affected by this crop, indigenous, workers in the judicial branch, the postal service and the office of registry. A march was the central action of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT) during the 24 hour work stoppage. It was viewed as a way to reject the neoliberal economic measures and the criminalization of social protest in Colombia. One exceptional moment for different social sectors in the whole country was that it received endorsements from respected international figures, among them the Nobel Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel, who demand the respect of human rights and guarantees for political participation in Colombia.
More information (in Spanish):
Mujeres también caminan la palabra http://www.biodiversidadla.org/content/view/full/44887
Análisis de Héctor Mondragón: http://www.tierramerica.info/nota.php?lang=esp&idnews=3096&olt=394
Carta de Pérez Esquivel a Uribe:
http://www.redcolombia.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=355&Itemid=66
Intelectuales del mundo sobre Colombia: http://www.adital.com.br/site/noticia.asp?lang=ES&cod=35632
7. A Referendum on water is considered by the Colombian Congress- A certification of 2,039,000 valid signatures by the Registration office will result in the presentation of a law to the Colombian Congress which calls for a referendum on water. Subsequently, the project will pass on to a period of study by the First Commission of the House, and later to the plenary. This process will happen in the Senate beginning March 2009.
More information (in Spanish):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_7313000/7313357.stm
http://ecofondo.org/mambo/index.php
8. Closing Declaration of Maputo Mozambique- from the 5th Via Campesina Conference- Between October 16th and 23rd the 5th conference of Via Campesina was held in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, where more than 550 people, representatives from organizations from all over the world came together and agreed to demand food sovereignty and the defense of small scale agriculture as the only option for combating the actual food crisis. The declaration was elaborated jointly by rural women and men farmers, small farmers and farm workers, indigenous peoples, afro-descendents and rural youth from Asia, Europe, the Americas and Africa.
One part of the declaration says: "Our reflections have made it clear to us that multinational corporations and international finance capital are our most important common enemies, and that as such, we have to bring our struggle to them more directly. They are the ones behind the other enemies of peasants, like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the FTAs and EPAs, neoliberal governments, as well as aggressive economic expansionism, imperialism and militarism. Now is also the time to redouble our struggle against FTAs and EPAs, and against the WTO, but this time more clearly indicating the central role played by the TNCs."
The document also emphasizes the protagonist role which the Via Campesina is playing in the world agenda related to the food crisis, in one section titled "Four years of struggles and victories".
To read the entire declaration in English: http://www.viacampesina.org/main_en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=623&Itemid=68
The Declaration of Women's Assembly: http://www.viacampesina.org/main_en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=620&Itemid=68
Declaration of the second youth assembly: http://www.viacampesina.org/main_en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=619&Itemid=68
More information (in Spanish):
http://movimientos.org/cloc/5cviacampesina/index.phtml?lang=Espanol
Declaración de Mujeres: http://movimientos.org/cloc/5cviacampesina/show_text.php3?key=13303
Declaración de Jóvenes: http://movimientos.org/cloc/5cviacampesina/show_text.php3?key=13270
9. The group "Gritos de los Excluidos" in Costa Rica denounce the attitude of the Costa Rican Congress as favoring the Economic Agreements with the European Union- The study titled "Possible losers in the Association Agreement of the European Union with the Central American Countries and Panama", which was done by the initiative ‘Copenhagen for Central America and Mexico' was presented to the Costa Rican Congress. It revealed that there is a more accelerated promotion of the pillar of commercial dialogue than those around cooperation and political dialogue. Congressman Francisco Molina, head of the Citizens Action Party legislative grouping, reacted saying that this Association Agreement is in fact not more of the same...
More information (in Spanish): http://www.prensalibre.co.cr/2008/octubre/22/nacionales15.php
Estudio presentado:
http://www.cifca.org/Estudio%20CIFCA_Sectores%20Perdedores%20AdA-COMPLETO4.pdf
10. World Financial Crisis summit scheduled for November 14-15th will focus on strengthening the foundations of capitalism- Member of the G20 countries are invited to Washington in November. According to the press office of the White House, this is the most ideal group of countries to deal with the theme of the world financial crisis, because it includes the 8 ‘developed' countries and the so called, developing countries or emerging economies. What they are looking for is an agreement where the governments commit to "close ranks" to continue this type of capitalism, they have even talked about ‘re-founding the financial system'.
(More information (in Spanish):
http://www.lostiempos.com/noticias/22-10-08/22_10_08_ultimas_eco17.php
http://spanish.peopledaily.com.cn/31621/6520417.html
11. HSA declaration: Without Women, another America is not possible- The women of the Americas and their organizations have participated actively in the struggle against the FTAA, the FTAs and now against the Association Agreements with the European Union which have as their goal re-colonializing our Continent. As social and political actors they have incorporated this agenda to their struggles against the historic discrimination which they have experienced and the defense of their rights, especially those most at risk: the sexual and reproductive rights.
In all of the networks, organizations and social movements of the Hemispheric Social Alliance, especially the Committee of Women, we are convinced that without the participation of women, and without the full respect of all of their rights, it is not possible to construct alternative economic, political or social models to the neoliberal model.
For this reason we make a special call to the governments of the region, which today look to find ways to move past the imperialism and the neoliberal model, so than in an elemental exercise of democracy the recognize, guarantee and commit to value and respect the struggle of women and their organizations in America.
We especially exhort the Government of Nicaragua, that they pronounce themselves as a Lay State in favor of Women, that they cease their criminalization and aggressions against women and their organizations; that they make a place for respect and recognition of the women and their organizations, to dissent and struggle in defense of human rights, which are a part of their life.
The political, social and citizen participation of women must be guaranteed as a fundamental base of the ‘other America possible' which we are building.
Hemispheric Social Alliance
Women's Committee of the HSA