Alliance for Responsible Trade

1. Financial and environmental crises:  Principal goals of the World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil

 Between January 27th and February 1, 2009 more than 2000 social organizations from 60 countries will come together for the World Social Forum which has been celebrated since 2001 in the face of the World Economic Forum which happens in Davos, Switzerland.  After 4 years away, the Forum returns to Brazil, to the city of Belem do Para, door to the Amazon.

For this reason, the agenda is filled with the global concern regarding the environmental crisis, but also the social consequences of the financial crisis.  The participants will discuss these and other themes, looking for alternatives for humanity which are more sustainable and in solidarity.  The time for submitting activities is closed, and individual registration is now open.

More information in English:   http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/index.php?cd_language=2&id_menu=.

2. ECUARUNARI calls for December 10th mobilizations against the Ecuadoran Debt

The Ecuadoran National Movement on Debt, with many movements and social organizations organized a march for December 10th, International Human Rights Day, in defense and support of the Ecuadoran Integral Audit of Debt, in support of non-payment of the External Debt and the criminal prosecution of those responsible for the debt.  The president of the Indigenous organization ECUARUNARI said that it is necessary to prosecute the ex-presidents Leon Febres Cordero, Sixto Duran Ballen and Rafael Noboa, among others who have been identified during the Debt Audit, for irregularities in securing loans.

More information in Spanish:
http://www.ecuadorinmediato.com/noticias/92148  http://www.multimedios106.com/home/contenidos.php?id=18&identificaArticulo=17563

3. President Lugo wants to review the external debt which Paraguay has with Brazil

The President of Paraguay, Fernando Logo announced that he would follow the example of his homologue in Ecuador and carry out an exhaustive revision of the External Debt of the Nation, including that which they have with neighboring country Brazil, for the construction of the bi-national hydroelectric dam Itaipu.  When the dam was finished in 1991, the debt was $17 billion, and today it is $18 billion, after having paid more than $25 billion.

More information in Spanish:
Noticia: http://www.abc.com.py/articulos.php?fec=2008-12-03&pid=475201&sec=7
Análisis Deuda: www.rbrasil.org.br/file/534.ppt

4. Colombia will be examined by the UN on International Human Rights Day

Human Rights organizations in Colombia have announced that on December 1oth they will carry out the first Universal Periodic Examination (UPE), for Colombia in a session of the Human Rights Tribunal of the United Nations.  The UPE is a new mechanism which replaces the annual review of the countries in which there is the most concern, to which 172 member countries must submit.  The state, the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and NGOs all prepare their respective reports which provide information for the examination.

More information in Spanish:
www.asambleaporlapaz.com
http://www.ddhhcolombia.org.co/node/22
http://www.alianzapostlondres.org/
http://www.plataforma-colombiana.org/

 
5. Workers occupy factory in Chicago

Since Friday December 5th, a group of workers from the Republic Windows and Doors factory have occupied the local, in protest of the un-announced closing of the factory.  The closing occurred because the Bank of America suddenly cut off credit to the company.

This is just one example of the impact the financial crisis in the U.S. is having on workers, where just in November 2008, 533,000 jobs were lost.

More information in Spanish:  http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g_NqL7QE9P5ehEl4CLGPBwVxS5ow  http://www.democracynow.org/es/2008/12/8/titulares#1

6. National meeting in Brazil to debate prostitution and violence against women

This week more than 50 women who are involved in prostitution in 17 states of Brazil and representatives of different sectors of society, who are looking to re-establish the citizenship, labor rights and denounce the violence to which these sexual workers face around the country. This debate is being held in the context of the commemoration of the Day of Non-Violence against Women, which was celebrated on November 25th and will include actions all around the world until December 11th.

More information in Spanish:
http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=77005
http://www.agenciapulsar.org/seccion.php?ids=7

7. Final report regarding the massacre in Pando, Bolivia given to Evo Morales

The massacre of campesinos in Pando, Bolivia on September 11th of this year was classified as a Crime against Humanity.  This was the conclusion reached by the Special Commission of UNASUR, which has been designated to investigate the events which happened in Pando.  The Defender of the People in Bolivia, Walter Albarracin, called the investigation by the Commission serious and responsible.  The conclusions are important in avoiding the possibility of impunity for the perpetrators of this act, where at least 20 campesinos were killed.

More information in Spanish:
 http://www.adital.com.br/site/noticia.asp?lang=ES&cod=36346
http://www.prensalatina.com.mx/article.asp?ID=%7B5136A6EB-AAF7-4EC4-A2AC-E7431F2F40AF%7D

8. Social organizations prepare actions in response to the 3 Summits in Bahia, Brazil

From December 12 to the 17th social organizations from all of Latin America and the Caribbean will hold the Summit of the Peoples parallel to the three presidential Summits which will happen in Bahia, Brazil.  The organizations will engage in discussion and debate regarding development and integration from the peoples.  The 36th Summit of the South Common Market, Mercosur, the Summit of UNASUR and the Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean will all happen in the city of Bahia.

More information in Spanish:
Unasur: http://www.lostiempos.com/noticias/08-12-08/08_12_08_ultimas_int6.php

Mercosur: http://www.abc.com.py/2008-12-08/articulos/476880/mercosur-ante-nueva-cumbre-con-rosario-de-conflictos 

Latinoamérica y El Caribe: http://actualidad.terra.es/nacional/articulo/latinoamerica-caribe-caza-ansiada-lejana-2941524.htm 

 
Convocation of the Summit of the Peoples:

Later this month, the Presidents of Latin America and the Caribbean will meet in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil in three consecutive meetings: The Summit of Presidents of Mercosur, the Unasur Summit, and the Latin America and Caribbean Summit. With the axis of the meetings the actual crises, the presidents will be moving forth an agenda which is crucial for the destiny of our people.  They will be making decisions about commerce, regional integration, economic and social policies, security and militarization, productive integration, migration and many more fundamental themes for our future.  The conference will be a kind of ‘dress rehearsal' for the upcoming Summit of the Americas, which will happen in April 2009 in Trinidad Tobago, and is the first since the Summit in Mar de Plata in 2005, where the FTAA was practically speaking, defeated.

During these years, in Latin America and the Caribbean the unions, along with social, indigenous, women's, campesino, and student organizations have been in resistance to neoliberalism and the FTAs, imperialism and militarization, and we have been promoting alternative policies and debating the solutions to the hemispheric problems.  We have been pushing integration processes, based in vindications, interests and rights of our people; defending food and energy sovereignty; the elimination of national and regional asymmetries; and concretizing proposals for ecologically sustainable development.  In the same way, we are looking for a model of societal equality, which combats exclusion, eliminates gender and racial discrimination and recognizes cultural and ethnic diversity, resolves the historic problems of education and health o the region and contributes to the struggle of the people for the construction of a democratic society.

 The political panorama of the region presents important changes.  Especially after the failure of the FTAA, various countries have begun the search for alternative paths to social well being and integration, which necessarily takes into account the expectations and demands of the people and social movements of the region.  The world economic crisis, with expressions in food, energy, social, environmental and financial areas, demands a response from the people.

We call together the movements and social organizations of all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to participate actively in the Summit of the Peoples, which will happen in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil from the 12-15th of December, where we will look to deepen our debate regarding the development and integration that we want. 

Hemispheric Social Alliance: Assembléia Popular - Bahia, Asamblea Popular Nacional, CEBRAPAZ, CECUP, CESE, CMB, Comitê Político da Articulaçión de Mujeres Brasileras, CONAM, CONTAG, CPT, CSA, CTA Argentina, CTB, CUT, FAMEB, FASE, FENAFAR, FETAG - BA, FETRAF, FDIM, FMBA, GAPA-BA, GAPA-SP, Instituto EQÜIT, Instituto Paulo Freire, Jubileo Sur, MMM, MNLM - BA, MST- BA, REBRIP, SRQP-CNQ-CUT, UBM, UNAMES, UNE, UNMP-UMP, Rede Brasil.