Sign On Letter asking for 'Hands off of Bolivia"

toml — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:20:30 -0400

Secretary of State Friday April 25, 2008

Condoleezza Rice

U.S. State Department

Dear Secretary Rice,

We, the undersigned, write with concern about U.S. foreign policy towards Bolivia. It is important that the United States appreciate the historical context of changes currently underway in that country and the tensions created. At such a sensitive time, the U.S. must be careful not to appear biased, and should support a peaceful and constitutional resolution in Bolivia.

We ask that USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy stop funding regional government initiatives and opposition groups in Bolivia.

Open for Business Closed to the Public: People's Summit Responds to "Three Amigos" Agenda

toml — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:57:12 -0400

PRESS RELEASE

NEW ORLEANS PEOPLE'S SUMMIT www.summitneworleans.org

NEW ORLEANS (April 22, 2008) - The "Three Amigos" of North America showed once more that they will ignore the growing clamor to renegotiate NAFTA and will continue to push our countries in the same direction through the North American Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). With the fourth Summit shrouded in more secrecy, the People's Summit gathered to build knowledge and understanding of how what is being discussed inside impacts our daily lives. Over 30 local, national and international organizations and networks hosted the New Orleans People's Summit: Our Response to NAFTA Expansion April 20-22 in New Orleans, LA with participation from groups based in New Orleans, other parts of the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Quebec.

Sign On to our letter calling on Congress to halt the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP)

toml — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:04:19 -0400

Dear Member of Congress,

On the occasion of the 4^th Leaders Summit of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), to be held in New Orleans on April 21-22, we take this opportunity to call on all members of Congress to educate themselves on the SPP, which was never brought to Congress for debate or vote. Our concerns include the opaque and undemocratic nature of the SPP, its definition of "prosperity" as the expansion of a failed trade model, and its definition of "security" as the expansion of military force and the restricting of civil liberties.

The People's Summit : Our Response to NAFTA Expansion

toml — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:42:45 -0400

April 21 - 23, 2008 · New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Coming together for our communities

Linking the Gulf Coast struggle to the fight for the survival of communities in Mexico, Canada, & the rest of the United States

Building collective knowledge and action to transform NAFTA & other unjust economic policies pushed by Bush, Calderon, & Harper

VISIT THE THE"PEOPLE'S SUMMIT" WEBSITE

A Woman of “Sweet Words”

toml — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:10:32 -0400

Address by Elizabeth Garcia Carillo for Ecumenical Advocacy Days March, 2008

As part of our advocacy efforts to stop the U.S. Free Trade Agreement with Colombia, ART hosted Elizabeth Garcia Carillo for a week of visits to key members of Congress in order to speak about the impact of the FTA on indigenous, Afro-Colombian and displaced populations. Elizabeth represents the Confederation of Tryona Peoples, and is a lawyer for the Process for Black Communities, an umbrella organization of Afro -Colombian communities and organizations.

Take Action March 17-30 to Stop the U.S.-Colombia FTA Vote

toml — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:57:46 -0400

President Bush is threatening to force a vote on the Free Trade Agreement over the objection of Congressional leadership!. Most recently, the Administration has said that it will be introduced immediately after the March recess.

NAFTA MUST BE RENEGOTIATED

toml — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:25:20 -0500

A proposal from North American civil society networks

Politicians throughout North America (Canada, Mexico and the United States) are beginning to recognize what the majority of citizens already know - the North American Free Trade Agreement's (NAFTA) promises have not been fulfilled and new policies are urgently needed. There is growing awareness that quality jobs have disappeared, only to be replaced by insecure and low remuneration employment, while income inequality has risen to almost unprecedented levels.

Funds needed to bring Colombian spokespeople to counter human rights spin

ryanbf — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:29:38 -0500

The people of Colombia are facing a pivotal moment. The Bush and Uribe Administrations and U.S. corporate power have launched an all out campaign to whitewash the human rights situation in Colombia in order to push a Free Trade Agreement between our countries. The U.S. Congress is being skilfully pressured into rubberstamping this flawed agreement. But you can help bring our Colombian partners to Washington to deliver the reality check Congress needs to say no to this broken treaty!

PROTEST AT HILLARY CLINTON'S NYC OFFICES IN SUPPORT OF PERUVIAN FARMERS

toml — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:10:07 -0500

View protest

A rally in in support of 5 Peruvian farmers killed by the Peruvian government was held today at noon in front of the Peruvian consulate in NYC. The protesters are asking for the Alan Garcia government to respect the life and the rights of Peruvian farmers in their struggle against the US-Peru FTA - Free Trade Agreement. The protest was sponsored by the NYC People's Referendum on Free Trade.

Peru: 5 Killed in Trade Protests

toml — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:05:08 -0500

News from the Nicaragua Solidarity Network (NSN) of Greater New York
NSN page

Campesinos and farmers started an open-ended strike in eight Peruvian departments on Feb. 18, holding marches and blocking highways to demand government measures to ease the impact of a free trade agreement (FTA, or TLC in Spanish) with the US. The action was called by the National Convention of Agriculture (Conveagro), the National Council of Irrigation Users (JNUDR) and the National Agrarian Confederation (CNA). According to JNUDR president Enrique Málaga, the FTA, which is to lift tariffs on heavily subsidized US farm products, will harm more than 1.75 million Peruvian farms. "

Sign on to our letter Supporting the Costa Rican People

toml — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:23:29 -0500

From the Stop CAFTA Coalition and the Quixote Center:

In Costa Rica, there has been a call for nationwide actions by farmers, indigenous communities, civic and patriotic committees and diverse social organizations organizing against the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). The action will take place Wednesday the 27th and Thursday the 28th this week. They will be protesting the implementation agenda for the laws required under DR-CAFTA, and they have asked that organizations in the U.S. send letters of support for their movement. Several of us have quickly constructed a letter, which has an initial group of signers. We apologize for the short time line but the Costa Rican groups would like to have this letter to take to the action on Wednesday. We are only asking organizations who can decide quickly to sign on to this.

The deadline is Today Feb 26th 6pm EST! If your organization can sign the letter below, please send your organizational adhesions to: burke@cispes.org.

The undersigned groups and individuals in the United States offer our solidarity with the struggles of the people of Costa Rica and the Patriotic Committees in this moment of decision

Some January 26th Activities by groups around the country

toml — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:19:27 -0500

Here are descriptions of actions and links to the videos made from groups in Chicago, Portland, Louisville and Boston as a part of the call by the World Social Forum to demonstrate widespread opposition to the status quo.

Chicago:
Dear friends:
Many thanks to all the Chicago-based groups that signed on to the letter initiated by the Chicago Trade With Justice Working Group, opposing ratification of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The letter was delivered this morning to the Chicago offices of Senators Durbin and Obama, and it is also being faxed to all members of the U.S. House from Illinois.

You can read the final text of the letter below, or by clicking on this link: http://mingas.info/node/72

Further, in a video just posted on YouTube, members of several of these groups give their reasons for opposing the U.S.-Colombia FTA. We encourage you to view it, give it a rating, and leave a comment to increase visibility on the site:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HgTzdJ2Rkqs

Please feel free to share the information and these links with others and encourage them to do the same. Select this article to read the letter and see links to the actions of the other groups.