A Santa Cruz delegation is being organized to attend the People's Forum on Alternatives to the WTO in Cancun in September. Meetings are Wednesday evenings at 7pm at the Resource Center for NonViolence.
WTO is the over-arching keystone of the neoliberal global economic architecture, which also includes regional initiatives like NAFTA, FTAA, Plan Puebla Panama, Plan Colombia, etc...
[ Call for Mobilization | WTO Action Meeting Report | Global Exchange's WTO Campaign ]
When the World Trade Organization (WTO) meets in Cancun in September, a delegation from Santa Cruz will attend the parallel People's Forum on Alternatives to the WTO. The delegation is diverse, made up of people from different groups, of various ages, races, professions, and backgrounds. Several members of the Cancun delegation are veterans of the demonstrations that took place in late 1999 in Seattle during WTO meetings there.
Meetings are held each Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Resource Center for Nonviolence at 515 Broadway in Santa Cruz to coordinate activities in Cancun and to plan local educational, outreach, and fundraising events. A Teach-In and video film series are being planned.
The World Trade Organization is one of the major rulemaking institutions of the global economy. Its enforceable rules restrict governments from making laws that can be considered barriers to « free trade. » Through its dispute process, the WTO can rule that certain laws are « non-tariff barriers to trade » and require the offending country to change its law, pay a fine, or face economic sanctions in the form of tariffs. The WTO has been called the « constitution for a new global economy. »
Critics claim that WTO policies benefit large corporations, but harm the vast majority of people and the earth itself by forcing governments to weaken or eliminate labor, human rights, consumer safety, and environmental laws. Corporations help create WTO policies, policies which strictly limit governments from interfering with the « rights » of corporations to profit from business in their countries. Civil society has little input. Dispute panels are secretive, without democratic accountability. Yet these panels can overturn laws that were made through grassroots democracy. The official meetings in Cancun will focus on further extending the rights of corporations and limiting the power of governments to restrict their activities.
Some people are going to Cancun simply to learn more at the Teach-Ins and to participate in citizens' forums. Others will participate in the large demonstrations that are planned. Some may engage in nonviolent direct action to interfere with the official meetings of the WTO.
Members of the delegation are available to be interviewed in advance and will be available for public presentations upon their return. To schedule speakers, call the hotline below.
Tax-deductible contributions to help offset travel expenses may be designated « Cancun » and sent to the Resource Center for Nonviolence at 515 Broadway, Santa Cruz, 95060.
The delegation to Cancun and coordinated local events are being coordinated through
The Santa Cruz Peacemakers of the Resource Center for Nonviolence
for Info: Hotline: 423-1626 ext. 302
RCNV.org
Check out the following websites for more information:
Information About the Santa Cruz Delegation to Cancun
The website of the Resource Center for Nonviolence: http://RCNV.org
Santa Cruz Independent Media Center (Indymedia): http://santacruz.indymedia.org/
Information About Events in Cancun
Statements from the Mexican Host Committee, and to sign up for their listserve:
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/cancun/mobilization.htm
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/cancun/0108wto_action.html
Cancun Committee (Global Exchange in Cancun):
http://www.cancuncommittee.org/
A Call for Global Protests related to the WTO
From United for Peace and Justice: http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-603-3700
Information About the World Trade Organization (WTO)
The official website of the WTO:
http://www.wto.org/
For legal information about the WTO:
New York University School of Law
http://www.law.nyu.edu/library/wto_gatt.html
Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch on the WTO
http://www.citizen.org/trade/wto/index.cfm
International Forum on Globalization: Overview of the WTO
http://www.ifg.org/wto.html
Global Exchange critique of the WTO: The WTO Erodes Human Rights Protections: Three Case Studies
http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/wto/CaseStudies.html
People for Fair Trade critique of the WTO:
http://home.att.net/~sally.pfft/wto-overview.html
Global Exchange: Alternatives to the WTO:
http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/
Articles on the WTO and globalization:
http://www.villageorpillage.org/articles.html