Resources for Activists
Below are resources that can be used by Activists seeking to organize around issues of trade justice and fair trade.
- 2010-02-04 12:51
Written by James Polk Edited by Manuel Perez-Rocha- February 1, 2010
It was during the middle of the night on October 10, 2009 when 6000 Mexican military and federal police ousted the workers and occupied the facilities of the country’s second largest electrical power utility, Luz y Fuerza. Acting on an executive order by Mexican President Felipe Calderon Hinjosa, military electricians and staff took control of the utility that provides power to Mexico City region. - 2009-12-14 15:19
Romina Maurino
Toronto — The Canadian Press Published on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009 7:44PM EST
A Mexican man who strongly opposed the presence of a Canadian company in his hometown felt sure his activism would lead to his murder but was willing to pay that price to protest what he regarded to be human rights abuses, friends said Thursday.
Activist Mariano Abarca Roblero, 51, was gunned down in front of his home in southern Chiapas last month.
- 2009-12-11 16:42
Building on ten years of research on the social, economic, and environmental impacts of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on Mexico, GDAE’s Flyer on Events planned in Pittsburgh during G20 meetings
2009-09-04 10:34 - 2009-06-28 20:33
It is an exciting moment for Bolivia. The continent’s first indigenous president, Evo Morales, has led a sweeping reform movement which includes mandated indigenous representation in the government for the first time.
- 2009-06-28 15:07To the Plenary Session on the Situation in HondurasUN Headquarters , New York, 29 June 2009Excellencies,It is with a heavy heart and deep personal outrage that I open this plenary session to consider the coup d’etat that interrupted the democratic and constitutional rule of President Manuel Zelaya in the Republic of Honduras yesterday, the 28th of June.
- 2009-06-11 12:41
Follow the link to take action and demand President Obama denounce the massacre in Peru.
- 2009-06-11 10:02
Fifteen years since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) entered into effect, it has
become obvious that many of the promised benefits of the agreement have not come to be. As Members
of our Parliaments and Congress in Canada, Mexico and the U.S., we ask you, on behalf of our
constituents as well as civil society organizations, to consider a new, people-centered fair trade model.... - 2009-06-10 14:26
During the last week, deep in the Peruvian Amazon, confrontations between nonviolent indigenous protesters and police have left up to 100 people dead. The vast majority of the casualties are civilians, who have been conducting peaceful demonstrations in defense of the Amazon Rainforest.
- 2009-06-09 20:04
Alberto Pizango gave this speech (in Spanish) to the IV Continental Indigenous Summit just one week before police fired on blockades in the Amazon region. He calls upon the indigenous to communicate to the Peruvian government that there exists an indigenous population willing to claim and defend their lands. He makes the final point that Peruvians cannot continue to obey the rule of law, when the government, who is supposed to enforce the law, has no regard for human rights.
Solo una semana despues de este discurso por Alberto Pizango en el Encuentro Indigena en Puno, Peru, el ejercito peruviano ametrelló los bloqueos en la región Amazonica. El insta que los y las indigenas comuniquen al gobierno que hay un pueblo indigena quien esta dispuesto a reclamar y defender sus tierras. Dice que no es necesario obedecer el estado de derecho cuando el gobierno no respeta los derechos humanos.
- 2009-06-09 19:52From May 27 – 31, I attended the IV Continental Indigenous Summit as an international observer for the Alliance for Responsible Trade and the Hemispheric Social Alliance (HSA) of which ART is a part. Over 6000 representatives of indigenous peoples from throughout the Continent and 500 observers participated in the Summit which focused on the unprecedented global economic and climate change crisis that the current economic system has produced.The Summit took place in the context of mounting tensions between the Government of Peru and the indigenous peoples of Peru’s Amazon. For two months, over 30,000 indigenous have sustained nonviolent protests along the roads and waterways of Peru’s Amazon. Protests are in response to a series of Presidential decrees issued under the U.S.-Peru FTA implementation law that violate indigenous rights and open the way for an unprecedented expansion of new transnational petroleum, mining, logging and mono-cropping in the Amazon rainforest.
- 2009-06-09 15:39
Peru Blog June 8, 2009
Last week I returned to Washington DC from Puno, Peru where over 6000 representatives of indigenous peoples and 500 international observers gathered for the 5-day IV Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples. In Puno, I had the privilege of meeting with representatives of Peru’s indigenous peoples who have sustained peaceful protests for nearly two months in response to the U.S.-Peru FTA implementation law which violates indigenous rights and territories. Just days after the Summit, in a shocking act of aggression, Government forces opened fire on peaceful indigenous protestors, killing as many as 60 in the Peruvian Amazon.
- 2009-06-09 07:18
Sunday, June 7, 2009- Over the last two days, deep in the Peruvian Amazon, confrontations between nonviolent indigenous protesters and police have left more than 60 people dead. As many as 30,000 Indigenous people have sustained protests for almost two months in response to as series of Presidential Decrees issued last year under the US-Peru FTA implementation law. Several of these decrees directly threaten Indigenous territories and rights.
- 2009-06-08 10:11
This video from the massacre in peru is one of the segments from the Democracy Now program of June 8, 2009 It offers a summary of the events that have transpired in Peru over the weekend. Included is a long interview with Amazon Watch staffer Gregor MacLennan from Bagua, site of much of the violence. Also included is footage of President Alan Garcia, of Peru defending the actions of the government.
- 2009-06-08 04:43
Andrew Miller reviews some of the issues surrounding the implementation of the Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and then reports on initial information about the massacre of indigeneous people in Peru.
- 2009-06-07 11:58
Solidarity action in support of our indigenous relatives of the Peruvian Amazon who are resisting presidential decrees which expropriate the natural resources of their territories, will continue on Monday June 8, 2009 in coast to coast continental protests and actions of solidarity.2009-06-06 22:26The Chair of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues expresses her shock and deep distress at reports received of atrocities committed starting 5 June against indigenous peoples in the Amazon region, resulting in the loss of lives, disappearances and grave injuries. The Chair sends her deepest condolences to the families of the victims. The Chair calls upon the Peruvian Government to:2009-06-06 16:58
CALL TO INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL- INTERNATIONAL DENUCIATIONof President Alan García Pérez of Peruand his admistration for Bloody Repression of Indigenous Peoples in the Peruvian Amazon At least twenty people are dead.OAS RESOLUTION OPENING PATH FOR CUBA'S RE-ENTRY
2009-06-04 04:00GENERAL ASSEMBLY
THIRTY-NINTH REGULAR SESSION OEA/Ser.P
June 2 and 3, 2009 AG/GT/ARC-1/09
San Pedro Sula, Honduras 3 June 20092009-06-03 11:12Puno, Peru May 28-31, 2009
Gathered at the Main Paqarina of the Mama Qota Titijaja Lake, Lake of the Grey Stone Puma, 6500 delegates from organizations representing the Indigenous Peoples from the 22 countries of Abya Yala along with our relatives of peoples of Africa, United States, Canada, the Polar Circle and other parts of the world, with the participation of 500 observers from various social movements, we resolve:2009-05-30 14:03Puno, Peru- Gathered at the shore of Lake Titicaca, sacred site of the ancient Tiwanaku cultures of the Aymara and Quechua Nations, more than five thousand delegates of Indigenous Peoples from throughout the continent of Abya Yala [the Americas] today initiated the IV Continental Indigenous Summit Abya Yala with spiritual ceremonies and a march of continental solidarity.2009-05-29 12:38Dear Presidents and Heads of State,
We are writing to you in regard to the upcoming celebration in New York, June 24 to 26, of the United Nations’ Conference on the Economic and Financial Crisis and its Impact on Develoment. We urge you to give this Conference the priority it deserves and to participate, in your capacity as Heads of State, leading a delegation from your country of the highest level including the participation of relevant ministries and civil society organizations and movements involved in addressing the impacts and building alternatives in the face of this crisis.2009-05-15 09:391. Panama FTA updates, news and action options 2. Canada-Colombia FTA 3. Strike by Amazon Indigenous peoples suspended for 48 hours 4. NAFTA-Renegotiation and Plan Merida news 5. Peoples’ Voices on the Crisis and UN Conference on the Financial and Economic Crisis 6. Bolivia related news and actions 7. SOAW- Alerts 8. CAFTA- Renegotiation 9. Puno- the IV Continental Indigenous Gathering- May 27-31, 2009 10. TPS for Haiti 11. Update on IMF in Congress2009-05-15 06:58View the flyer on an upcoming event in on June 20th in New York City
2009-05-06 08:151. Rafael Correa wins 51.7% of the vote and is re-elected in Ecuador2. Central American social movements oppose the resumption of FTA talks with the EU3. All over the continent they are getting ready for the May First.4. Indigenous peoples convene the Sixth Continental Summit of the peoples of Abya Yala.5. Four memoranda on crimes of the Bush eradeclassified.6. Organizations in defence of the original text in the Referendum on Water in Colombia7. Mesoamerica fights dams8. Protests on Uribe’s European tour9. Via Campesina says that the G8 is not a legitimate space to define agricultural policy.2009-05-05 17:06Hopes raised at the Summit of the Americas for new approach to U.S. relations with Latin America proved to be short lived when, on the day after the Summit, the U.S. Administration announced that there will be no renegotiation of NAFTA and that the U.S. will begin to move forward quickly on all three pending FTAs; Panama, Colombia and South Korea.2009-04-29 14:20VANCOUVER, April 27, 2009 – Civil society organizations and individuals from across the Americas and Europe are calling on Canadian parliamentarians to halt the ratification of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. MINGAS-FTA, a transnational coalition of individuals, academics and organizations opposed to agreements like the Canada-Colombia FTA, faxed today a letter with over 400 signatures to the offices of more than a dozen Liberal Members of Parliament in advance of the Liberal Party Convention to be held in Vancouver later this week. The letter arrives as groups from diverse sectors plan demonstrations for the May 1 convention.2009-04-24 09:45April 21 2009 ALBA Cumaná, Venezuela
We, the Heads of State and Government of Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela, member countries of ALBA, consider that the Draft Declaration of the 5th Summit of the Americas is insufficient and unacceptable for the following reasons:
2009-04-24 09:00A Worker’s Forum of the Americas- Fifth Summit of the Americas, Port of Spain, 15-16 April 2009
We, trade unionists of the Americas, representing over fifty million workers across the entire continent, have met in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on 15 and 16 of April 2009, on the occasion of the Fifth Summit of Heads of State of the Americas, and following the G-20 Summit held recently in London, and hereby declare:2009-04-21 17:53MESSAGE TO THE PRESIDENTS GATHERED AT THE V SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS Trinidad Tobago, April 18, 2009
THE ECONOMIC MODEL THAT IS IN CRISIS NEEDS URGENT CHANGE
NO MORE EXCLUSION, NEOLIBERALISM, “FREE TRADE” OR MILITARIZATIONAs representatives from a wide diversity of trade union, farmer, indigenous, women’s, youth, consumer advocacy, human rights, environmental and, in general, social and civil organizations that are part of hemispheric networks such as the Hemispheric Social Alliance and united here at the IV Peoples’ Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, we wish to transmit this message from the people we represent:
2009-04-20 09:433rd update from the IV Peoples’ Summit of the Americas
Things have been so busy with a flurry of activities surrounding the People’s Summit that I have hardly had time to feed my blog.2009-04-20 09:14We should live in a simple way for others to be able to live as well - Mahatma Gandhi
He who is richer is not who has more, but who needs less. - Zapotec grandparents’ maxim, Oaxaca, Mexico
2009-04-17 18:06From North American Networks, Social Movements and Civil Society April 17, 2009
We, the North American networks and organizations, members of the Hemispheric Social Alliance (and others) signing below- participants in the IV Peoples’ Summit of the Americas in Trinidad Tobago, during April 16-18, call for swift and dramatic actions from our governments.2009-04-13 09:58Domingo 12 de Abril de 2009
Tom Loudon, t r u t h o u t | PerspectiveHay mucha expectativa en relación a la próxima Cumbre de la Américas, que tendrá lugar entre el 17 y el 19 de abril en Trinidad y Tobago. Será la primera oportunidad para el Presidente Obama poder dialogar con los presidentes de América Latina y el Caribe. Muchos mantienen la esperanza de un redireccionamiento de las políticas de EEUU hacia sus vecinos en el hemisferio.
2009-04-11 16:33Dear President Obama, April 13, 2009
At the upcoming Summit of the Americas, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate how the change you promise can translate into new policies towards the hemisphere. The history of relations between the United States and Latin America is a painful one, based on domination and military intervention to assure compliance with U.S. agendas.2009-04-02 13:39The V Summit of the Americas will be held in Port of Spain, the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago, from Friday April 17th to Sunday April 19th, 2009.
It brings together Presidents and Prime Ministers of 34 states in the western hemisphere (with the exception of Cuba, which is intentionally excluded). This will be the first time that the Summit is held in a Caribbean country. It therefore presents a unique opportunity for social movements of the hemisphere that are opposed to neo-liberalism to meet and address an agenda for the people of the hemisphere; an agenda that is opposed to neo-liberalism.
2009-03-25 12:161. Inscriptions are open for the IV People’s Summit2. United States in a good moment after the meeting with Brazil but tensions continue with Mexico3. FMLN wins Presidental elections in El Salvador4. IADB: 50 years of financing inequality5. UNASUR agrees to coordinate defense planning6. Suit brought against the Pellas Group by those affected by the use of pesticides7. Ecuador suspends NGO license8. Attacks against ecological leader in Colombia9. Truth Commission is proposed to investigate crimes from the Bush era10. Feminism, water and energy on the agenda of events of the week2009-03-25 11:46Mexico City, March 16 – 18, 2009
At its Third Tri-National Meeting, unions, networks and social movement organizations from the energy sector of Canada, the US and Mexico committed to seeking solutions to the major challenges facing the sector in their respective countries and in the region overall.2009-03-25 10:561. International Women's Day is commemorated in the hemisphere
2. Study reveals impacts of Intellectual Property agreements in developing countries
3. Activists request international support for the Referendum on Water in Colombia
4. Parliament votes to abolish the Amnesty Law in Uruguay
5. Economic crisis, threats and purchasing power on the union agenda in the hemisphere
6. This Sunday 15th March, El Salvador will elect a president
7. Venezuela expropriates Cargill and initiates state control of foods.
8. Peruvian social organizations reject the Complementary Agreement with Chile
9. Dow Jones falls to levels of 11 years ago and the crisis strikes the ethanol industry in the United States.2009-03-02 14:13President Obama has charted a course for economic recovery that will restore growth and promote broadbased prosperity. It will emphasize improvements in the living standards of American families whilereorienting our economy to meet today’s challenges – energy, the environment, and globalcompetitiveness.2009-02-27 19:511. Indefinite reelection triumphs with 54.36% of the votes in Venezuela
2. Grave humanitarian crisis en indigenous communities in Colombia, and resistance to megaprojects in Honduras and Mexico
3. Latin American Rural Women’s’ Conference in Uruguay
4. Social movements put renegotiation of Canada Free Trade Agreement on agenda of Obama’s visit to Canada
5. Guatemalan Judicial System approves turning over of military documentation in genocide cases
6. Scandal in Spain for “payment” imposed on police for detention of immigrants
7. Director of YPFB detained for corruption
8. "War Lost" declares the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy
9. Report on the Activities of Social Organizations in the parallel Round to the FTAs with Colombia and Peru2009-01-05 12:39Carta abierta de organizaciones de la sociedad civil de los EEUU al presidente electo Barack Obama para urgirle en cumplir su promesa de renegociar el TLCAN y para poner un alto a la antidemocrática ASPAN.
2009-01-05 10:45Dear President Elect Barack Obama, January 5, 2008
We wish to congratulate you on your recent electoral victory.
Throughout the electoral campaign we, the undersigned, followed with great interest your repeated commitments to fair trade and the renegotiation of poorly designed trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
2008-12-23 12:391. Declaration of Bahia, Brazil proposes solutions to world crises
2. Letter to Ortega requests clarification of position on trade agreements with the European Union
3. Army assassinates the husband of Aida Quilcue, Consejera Mayor of the Indigenous Resguardo of Cauca
4. IIRSA meeting concludes in Cartagena with a lack of transparency
5. Social Organizations in Argentina march under the banner, "Hunger is a Crime"
6. Bank of America announces massive layoffs
7. Obama's Plan towards Latin America revives the "good neighbor policy"2008-12-23 12:311. Financial and environmental crises: Principal goals of the World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil
2. ECUARUNARI calls for December 10th mobilizations against the Ecuadoran Debt
3. President Lugo wants to review the external debt which Paraguay has with Brazil
4. Colombia will be examined by the UN on International Human Rights Day
5. Workers occupy factory in Chicago
6. National meeting in Brazil to debate prostitution and violence against women
7. Final report regarding the massacre in Pando, Bolivia given to Evo Morales
8. Social organizations prepare actions in response to the 3 Summits in Bahia, Brazil2008-12-14 20:39Written by Daniel Denvir
Friday, 12 December 2008 President Rafael Correa declared on Friday that Ecuador would not make a $30.6 million interest payment on $510 million in bonds due in 2012, calling the debt illegal.
The default on the Global Bonus 2012 bonds means that Ecuador is also defaulting on Global 2015 and 2030 bonds. The default totals $9.937 billion, 19 percent of the country's GDP. Ecuador has assembled a legal team to fight expected lawsuits and hopes to use the default as leverage to renegotiate the debts.
2008-12-13 12:15Groups Who Opposed Central America Agreement Plan to Call for Suspension Under Obama Administration
Members of the Stop CAFTA Coalition, along with allies in Central America and the Dominican Republic, have compiled a report that describes the trends and impacts of the first three years of the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). The report, titled "DR-CAFTA: Effects and Alternatives" is the third in a series of reports by the Stop CAFTA Coalition; the first was published in September 2006 and the second in September 2007. The latest report can be downloaded directly at http://www.cispes.org/documents/DR-CAFTA_Effects_and_Alternatives.pdf. All three reports can be found at www.stopcafta.org.
2008-12-10 11:071. Summit of the Peoples in Bahia called for Latin America and the Caribbean. 2. Countries of the ALBA propose the Sucre (as a new currency) to confront the financial crisis. 3. The opposition in Canada accuses Harper of complicity with Uribe for signing the FTA 4. Women speak about the impacts of the financial crisis 5. President Evo Morales proposes ending capitalism to fight climate change 6. Workshop in Brazil on ‘biofuels as an obstacle to food security' ends 7. Campaign ‘No to the Embankments' travels around Argentina to protect wetlands2008-12-07 16:53Message from Evo Morales to the countries taking part in the UN Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland
Sisters and brothers:
Today, our Mother Earth is ill. From the beginning of the 21st century we have lived the hottest years of the last thousand years. Global warming is generating abrupt changes in the weather: the retreat of glaciers and the decrease of the polar ice caps; increasing sea levels and the flooding of coastal areas, where approximately 60% of the world population live; the increase in the processes of desertification and the decrease of fresh water sources; a higher frequency of natural disasters that the communities of the earth suffer; the extinction of animal and plant species;1 and the spread of diseases in areas that before were free from those diseases.
2008-12-07 16:46IN THE FACE OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS, WE DEMANDED A CHANGE IN MODEL
Social leaders of Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, belonging to the Hemispheric Social Alliance, meeting in Quito on 15 November 2008 -- at the same time as the leaders of the G20 in Washington-- discussed the implications of the current global financial crisis and the actions that the peoples of the Continent should take. To the event we invited the Minister for the Coordination of Economic Policy of Ecuador, Pedro Páez; the Senator of the Alternative Democratic Pole of Colombia, Jorge Enrique Robledo; and the Ambassador of Bolivia in Ecuador, Juan Javier Zárate, who expressed their views on the subject that brought us together.
2008-12-07 16:39
1. The Struggle against the European Union-CAN Association Agreements has begun. 2. The United Socialist Party of Venezuela won 17 of 22 local governments but lost in Caracas. 3. Women commemorate the Day against Machista Violence 4. The issue of Water Seizes Political Agenda in Latin America 5. Social movements outline an agenda to combat the financial crisis 6. The Minga of the Peoples Lives On, after passing through Bogota 7. Ecuador has already paid its External Debt 8. Asia Pacific FTA announced at APEC Summit.
2008-11-21 14:32
Rick Arnold and Manuel Pérez-Rocha
Barack Obama's electoral victory represents hope for a change in direction for US relations with Latin America and within the North American region- a change that departs from the Monroe Doctrine of US superiority over its 'backyard' neighbors. North American pundits have already been suggesting that a new US administration must focus its energies on the current economic crisis along with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - leaving no time to deliver on other campaign promises such as putting into practice a new ‘good neighbor' policy in the Americas and re-visiting existing and pending free trade agreements.
2008-11-13 16:45
1. Governments and social movements in the continent have high expectations after the election of Barack Obama as the new President of the United States. 2. Message from U.S. Indigenous leaders regarding the U.S. election 3. Social organizations around the world protest the upcoming G-20 Summit in Washington D.C. 4. The scheduled EU- CAN meeting in Brussels on the Association Agreement is cancelled
5. Decriminalization of abortion moves forward in Uruguay 6. Repsol-YPF is expelled from Ecuador and ENEL brings a demand against El Salvador 7. The institutional crisis in Colombia remains tense after revelations about extrajudicial executions 8. The Bolivian government accuses the DEA of human rights violations in Bolivia 9. The Congress of Argentina will vote on November 13th about nationalizing private pension funds 10. Popular and Social Front in Paraguay succeeds in creating the Agrarian Reform Council
2008-11-12 10:29Human Rights Situation Worsening Despite Persistent Claims of Improvement
We write in celebration of a new political moment in U.S.-Colombia relations. President-elect Obama clearly stated his opposition to a U.S. - Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as recently as the last presidential debate in October. "The history in Colombia right now is that labor leaders have been targeted for assassination on a fairly consistent basis and there have not been prosecutions," Obama said. "I think that the important point is we've got to have a president who understands the benefits of free trade but also ... is going to stand up to other countries."
2008-11-11 10:291. Divisions created by the financial crisis were evident in the XVIII Iboamerican Summit
2. Social, Women's and other International Organizations are concerned about the social impacts of the financial crisis
3. The movement "Without Corn there is no Country" holds assembly on Food Sovereignty
4. Brazilian organizations will hold parallel events to the international conference titled "Biofuels as a motor of development"
5. The Indigenous mobilization in Colombia continues, while the UN expresses concern regarding state responsibility in extrajudicial executions
6. Evo Morales receives the backing of various Indigenous Peoples of the Americas during the International Encounter for Solidarity with Bolivia2008-11-05 09:56By John Lindsay-Poland November 4, 2008
Colombian Army commander Mario Montoya resigned today, in the wake of a scandal over army killings of civilians that a United Nations official on Saturday called " systematic and widespread." A protégé of the United States, Montoya received training at the notorious U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) and has also taught other soldiers as an instructor at the SOA. Montoya was an architect of the "body count" counterinsurgency strategy that many analysts believe led to the systematic civilian killings. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe announced the dismissal of 27 military officers on October 29, including three generals and 11 colonels and lieutenant colonels, for human rights abuses. The abuses include involvement in the killings of dozens of youths who were recruited in Bogotá slums and shortly after were reported as killed in combat by the army, hundreds of miles away.
2008-11-03 12:30
1. Social Assembly in Jujuy, Argentina concludes 2. Historic agreement removes obstacles and leads to agreement on a Referendum for a New Constitution in Bolivia 3. The "Solidarity with Bolivia" event opens in Bolivia with representatives of Indigenous Peoples from the entire continent 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 5. The 7th Encounter of the World March of Women (with a central theme of food sovereignty) ends
2008-10-17 21:46In response to the attacks on Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, we have collected signatures from organizations and and individuals which we sent today with the following letter to the State Department, and a similar letter to President Uribe of Colombia. Thanks to all of you who have assisted with this effort: Friday October 17, 2008 David Kramer, Assistant Secretary of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, US Department of StateRe: Colombian Military fires on Indigenous protesters in Cauca. Peaceful marches violently repressed.
2008-10-17 20:03In response to the attacks on Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, we have collected signatures from organizations and and individuals which we sent today with the following letter to President Uribe of Colombia. Thanks to all of you who have assisted with this effort:
Friday, October 17, 2008
2008-10-17 17:522008-10-17 15:52On Sunday October 12 the Quixote Center ran an open letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice regarding U.S. policy and actions towards Bolivia. By collecting funds from supporters of this initiative, we were able to run this open letter as a full page ad in two Bolivian newspapers- El Deber and La Razon. We have posted below the English version of the ad, and pdf versions of the ads which ran in the Bolivian papers.
2008-10-16 15:43Call for International Support!
Thousands of Colombia's Indigenous people, participating in a national mobilization to bring attention to the humanitarian crisis they face, have been met with violent and repression.
2008-10-16 14:43October 20, 2008
Dear Senator Obama:
We write to offer our congratulations on your campaign and to express our hope that as the next president of the United States you will take advantage of an historic opportunity to improve relations with Latin America. As scholars of the region, we also wish to convey our analysis regarding the process of change now underway in Latin America.
2008-09-29 21:16Memorandum for the United States Trade Representative
SUBJECT: Assignment of Function Under Section 203(e)(2)(A)
of the Andean Trade Preference Act, as AmendedSeptember 25, 2008
2008-09-29 20:44President Bushs' plan to recreate the FTAA
For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary
September 24, 2008
2008-09-28 14:17The Washington Office on Latin America and the Institute for Policy Studies
are pleased to invite you to a discussion
featuring Kathryn Ledebur
Director, Andean Information Network (AIN) Cochabamba, Bolivia
2008-09-28 12:41
1. The Situation in Bolivia 2. The food crisis in Haiti 3. Solidarity with Cuba 4. III Social Forum on Migrations 5. Extraordinary Summit of UNASUR 6. The strike by the sugar workers in Colombia 7. The 5th European Social Forum 8. The Andean Mining Forum 9. The III Americas Social Forum 10. The II Anti-Militarization in Honduras
2008-09-22 16:23UNASUR EMERGENCY MEETING
In response to the crisis in Bolivia, an emergency meeting of nine Union of Nations of South America (UNASUR) Presidents was convened on Monday September 15th in Santiago, Chile. The meeting was a success for Bolivia and for UNASUR itself, reflecting a changing balance of power in the hemisphere. The call for a UNASUR, rather than an OAS meeting, effectively excluded the United States from participating.
2008-09-18 15:05This is a document written by 3 Congressmen from the MAS party which provides details regarding the planning and carrying out of actions designed to provoke civil disorder and destabilize the government of Bolivia. The document includes observations about the role of former Ambassador Philip Goldman in fomenting destabilization efforts.
2008-09-17 15:43The announcement of a 'pre-accord' between the government and opposition prefects in eastern Bolivia raises hopes that the damaging political violence perpetrated by the latter in recent weeks will be called off. Talks are due to get underway in Cochabamba on September 18th. The Bulletin is available in the pdf file below. For more information on BIF go to: http://www.boliviainfoforum.org.uk/
2008-09-17 08:48On behalf of the more than 3.2 working women and men represented by the Canadian Labor Congress, I write today to share our deep concern regarding the current attack on democracy in Bolivia and other areas of Latin America.
(The pdf is a the letter from the President of the Canadian Labor Congress to the Foreign Minister of Canada)2008-09-15 15:52Following the Aug 10th Referendum, where 67% of the population declared their support for the Morales government, dissident governors in Bolivia's "media luna" stepped up efforts to disrupt and destabilize the country. Acts of violence and sabotage over the last three weeks, in different locations have been well organized with the intent of bringing down the government.
Last week, violence against people and property in several provinces controlled by these governors reached a crisis point. In addition to multiple attacks on people and organizations considered sympathetic to the Morales government, dissident groups have occupied, ransacked and burned over 70 buildings, taken over airports, blown up natural gas lines and blocked roads in at least 35 places causing millions of dollars of economic damages.
2008-09-15 15:52Written by Franz Chávez Saturday, 13 September 2008
(IPS) - The Bolivian government declared martial law in the northern province of Pando after as many as 15 indigenous supporters of President Evo Morales were killed by rightwing protesters near the town of Cobija.
A group of public employees of the provincial government of Pando, in the hands of the rightwing opposition, intercepted the victims as they were heading to a meeting of Morales supporters from Amazon jungle communities, where they planned to organise resistance against the pro-autonomy demonstrators who have been occupying public offices and holding protests over the past few days.
2008-09-10 15:52"We are sufficiently strong to split the country," threatens a PODEMOS Santa Cruz deputy Somos lo suficientemente fuertes como para partir al país", amenaza un diputado cruceño de Podemos
2008-09-04 14:46
Contents: 1. The struggles of the indigenous communities and poor farmers of Peru lead to the repeal of Legislative Decrees 1015 and 1073 2. The Doha Round 3. Immigration in America 4. Honduras becomes a part of ALBA2008-08-01 09:40Contents: 1. Colombian Chapter- People's Tribunal 2. The WTO DOHA round 3. The New Constitution project for Ecuador is presented 4. The Recall Referendum in Bolivia 5. Civil Society Declaration in defense of services at the WTO 1. Colombian Chapter of the People's Permanent Tribunal
The people's permanent tribunal is an international non-governmental organization which is attempting to make permanent something which began in 1966 as the Russel Tribunals about Vietnam and in 1974 challenging the dictators in Latin America. This is a Tribunal which has the opinion that it is important to continually shed light on the impunity which some governments exercise and the resistance of the people against multiple and systematic violations of human rights which they are subject to, and which their countries are internally unable to contain.
2008-07-21 11:01
On the WTO's round of negotiations
International trade can play a major role in the promotion of economic development and the alleviation of poverty. We recognize the need for all our peoples to benefit from the increased opportunities and welfare gains that the multilateral trading system generates. The majority of WTO members are developing countries. We seek to place their needs and interests at the heart of the Work Programme adopted in this Declaration. Doha World Trade Organization Ministerial Declaration, November 14, 2001
2008-07-21 00:14
CUT supports strike by Drummond's workers
Three thousand workers of the coal mine situated in the municipalities of La Loma and Puerto de Ciénaga, located in the Colombian departments of Cesar and Magdalena respectively, began a work-stoppage at 5:50 PM on Wednesday, July 16, 2008. This is the second largest coal mine in Colombia and is run by the U.S.-based Drummond mining company. Drummond has also been granted a lease to extract natural gas deposits discovered in the same area and to operate the 55,000-acre El Descanso mine, in the municipalities of Becerril and Codazzi, considered the largest coal mine in the world.
2008-07-20 00:21
HEMISPHERIC SOCIAL ALLIANCE www.asc-hsa.org1. National Strike in Peru
2. Mobilization around the G8 Summit.
3. 4th Caribbean Peoples' Conference .
4. Suspensión of the 4th Round of the Andean Community (CAN) - EU Negotiations.
5. A Call to Action- the Doha Round.
2008-07-01 10:52Joint Statement of the Alliance for Responsible Trade (U.S.) and RECALCA (Colombia)
This week, Republican presidential candidate John McCain will visit Cartagena, Colombia to express his continued support for embattled Colombian President, Alvaro Uribe, and to promote the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which was put on indefinite hold over the serious human rights concerns of many in the U.S. Congress. Mr. McCain will no doubt use this visit to attempt to convince U.S. voters that, with regard to foreign and economic policy, he has the experience and judgment necessary to govern the United States for the next four years. However, his wholesale embrace of the Bush Administration's policy toward Colombia will win him little support among U.S. voters and will further alienate the citizens of Latin America who want to see real change in Washington.
2008-06-25 15:19HEMISPHERIC SOCIAL ALLIANCE ALIANZA SOCIAL CONTINENTAL1. Europe Raises Its Wall: Parliament Approved Anti-Immigrant Law
2. CAOI (Coordinadora Andina de Organizaciones Indígenas - Coordination of Andean Indigenous Organizations): No to the "Flexibilization" of Decision 486 of the CAN (Andean Community)
3. The FTA with Canada: another betrayal of the Nation
4. Chile: 10,000 demonstrators and nearly 300 arrests in protest against the Education Law
5. The plundering of minerals in Argentina: The Best Business in the World
6. The oil "bubble" and global social protests
7. Via Campesina calls for a mobilization against the G8 meeting in Hokkaido Japan2008-06-20 12:17
Regarding "The Return Directive"Until the end of the Second World War, Europe was a continent of emigrants. Tens of millions of Europeans came to the Americas to colonize, escape hunger, financial crisis, wars, European totalitarianisms and the persecutions of ethnic minorities.
Today, I am following with deep concern the approval process of the so-called "Return Directive". The text, validated on June the 5th by the Home Affairs Ministers of the 27 European Union countries, has to be voted on June 18th in the European Parliament. I consider that it drastically hardens the detention and expulsion conditions of undocumented immigrants, regardless of the length of their stay in the European countries, their employment situation, their family ties, their will or their achieved integration.2008-06-20 11:57In Mexico, as in the U.S. and Canada, citizens and democrats wish to "close the revolving door between the executive branch and K street (corporate) lobbying ...". Mexicans are currently mobilizing to stop the deeply un-democratic practice of lobbyists [writing] national policies.[i] From Barack Obama's Blueprint for Change
Mexico is in the middle of one the most intense processes of public debate in its modern history. The theme is: the future of its energy sector and the state oil company PEMEX. The debate has been a demand of the Frente Amplio Progresista (formed by the left of center parties) in order to allow Congress to consider an upcoming bill that would privatize operations of PEMEX. President Calderon (in office following a disputed electoral process) is trying to privatize energy that under the Mexican Constitution belongs exclusively to the State (Article 27th). The debate is part of a social demand to halt this initiative that violates the Mexican Constitution. Mexican energy is one of the few sectors excluded from NAFTA, and one of the few still owned by the Mexican State.
2008-06-15 19:051) Bolivia: Evo Morales' Letter, on E.U. immigration policies.
2) Brazil: Social movements protest big business and Lula's neo-liberal politics
3) The FAO Summit in Roma was a complete failure
4) Argentina: Two looks at the conflict between the government and the "ruralistas"
5) Ecuador: Open letter in support of the Debt Audit Commission
__________________________________________________________________2008-06-10 19:211) The new referendums in Bolivia were marked by a high level of abstention
2) Peru's proposal about Decision 486 will be voted on June 21st
3) Ecuador: An audit of the external debt continues
4) Mexico: Food for Mexico's campesinos: Hunger doesn't wait
5) Central America: U.S. objectives move forward in Plan Puebla Panama and the Mérida initiative
6) Colombia: Government represses indigenous social mobilization with lethal weapons2008-05-17 12:09May 13, 2008 By R. Dennis Olson
The 2008 Farm Bill to be voted on by the House and Senate this week includes incremental gains for conservation, renewable energy, food aid and healthier, local food systems. However, it fails to reverse decades of deregulation that have increased agricultural market volatility to the benefit of global food corporations, and at the expense of farmers, consumers, rural communities and the environment.
2008-05-16 16:13By Alexandra Spieldoch and R. Dennis Olson, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
May 6, 2008
As we head into another round of presidential primaries, the specter of a growing world food crisis looms on the horizon. Fueled by rising apprehension over increasing price volatility in agricultural commodity markets, the debate continues to escalate over what are the underlying causes of rising food prices. Opinions vary to what degree certain factors play a role, but there is a growing consensus that there is a "Perfect Storm" of several developments occurring simultaneously, including: nearly depleted grain reserves; increasing energy costs; climate change; the biofuel boom; increasing consumption of industrial meat production in emerging economies; and a lack of transparency in agricultural markets that has contributed to increased speculation and manipulation in commodity markets.
2008-05-12 09:44This recent death threat by the Colombian paramilitary death squad Aguilas Negras may be quite shocking for Americans, but it represents a chilling everyday reality for many Colombian labor leaders and human rights activists. Where is the outrage in the American press over the fact that the United States government has funded and continues to fund the militarization of this country through Plan Colombia? Why are major newspapers across the United States now adding insult to injury by editorializing in favor of President Uribe and a pending investor rights agreement that will lock in the existing conditions of state supported violence and terror?
2008-05-12 09:23First Commandment: Consume only what is necessary, avoid extravagance, waste, luxury and the desire to get rich.
President Evo Morales told the United Nations that in order to save the planet, we must eradicate the capitalist model, and the North must pay its ecological debt. This was the first of Ten Commandments presented by the leader during the inauguration of the VII Indigenous Forum of the United Nations during a long speech that received high acclaim by those who attended the annual encounter.
2008-05-05 12:18
28 de enero de 2008
Los políticos de toda América del Norte (Canadá, México y Estados Unidos) empiezan a reconocer lo que la mayoría de las y los ciudadanos ya sabían: las promesas del Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (TLCAN) no han sido cumplidas y es urgente implementar nuevas políticas.
2008-04-25 16:20Secretary of State Friday April 25, 2008Condoleezza 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.
2008-04-25 15:57PRESS 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.
2008-04-08 21:04
Dear Member of Congress,
On the occasion of the 4th 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.
2008-03-31 13:42April 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
2008-03-24 13:10Address 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.
2008-03-19 19:57President 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.
2008-03-03 14:25A 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.
