[mobglob-discuss] US, Miami, FL - A Day Hopeful and Radiant: The Miami Call toAction FTAA Ministerial Meetings - November 20-21, 2003 (final draft)

[Gordon Flett]

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A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E 
http://www.ainfos.ca/
http://ainfos.ca/index24.html 
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In November 2003, Miami, Florida, is hosting both the eighth round of
the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) trade negotiations and the
eighth Americas Business Forum. Trade Ministers from 34 nations in the
Western hemisphere, and hundreds of their closest commerce-inclined
friends, will descend on this city for a week of business and pleasure:
the business of advancing capitalism’s parasitic agenda, and the
pleasure of getting away with it. 

At the Summit of Americas held in Miami in December 1994, 34 heads of
state agreed to construct the FTAA. Since then, business and government
representatives from these countries have been secretly drafting this
plan with the aim of creating the largest free trading block in the
world by 2005. This is to be our region’s principal contribution to the
much-heralded age of globalization. 

- Did somebody say “Free Trade”? - 

The FTAA expands the corporate free trade policies of the North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which applied to Canada, Mexico, and the
United States, to encompass the entire Western hemisphere. It is an
integral part of the logic of capitalist globalization, generating
profits while at the same time accelerating the loss of workers’ rights,
wage decreases, the triumph of corporate agribusiness over family and
subsistence farms, environmental degradation, the displacement of
indigenous peoples and the privatization of public industries. Alongside
the imposition of militarization and natural resource-focused accords
like Plan Colombia, the Andean Regional Initiative, Plan Puebla Panama
and the Central American Free Trade Agreement, the FTAA is designed to
concentrate wealth and power into a few corporate hands at the expense
of everyone else. 

- Nosotros decimos No! - 

Much has happened since 1994: NAFTA and the Zapatista uprising in
Chiapas, Mexico, arrived simultaneously onto the world stage — the
former to destroy communities for the sake of profits, the latter to
reintroduce Mexico to its indigenous glory and inspire future resistance
across the world. Subsequent years saw a revival and dynamic growth of
popularly organized, independent struggles to resist free-market regimes
and create a humane and egalitarian alternative. From the courageous
efforts of the Landless Rural Workers Movement in Brazil, to the
struggles against public sector privatization in Cochabamba, Bolivia,
and across nations in Central America, to the 2001 rebellion in
Argentina, the June uprisings in Peru, and the regional response in
Quito, Ecuador, against the most recent round of FTAA negotiations — the
peoples of the hemisphere speak in a decisive voice of opposition. And
now all eyes are upon us. 

- Mobilize for Miami! - 

Come to Miami in November, and this is what you will see...Yes, it is a
steaming crock-pot of vibrant cultures and ethnicities, but the division
among classes and races is stark and deep. Yes, it is a tropical hub of
international commerce, but poverty is rampant and social exclusion is
pervasive. Yes, the issues relevant to the lives of everyday residents —
unemployment and underemployment, gentrification and displacement in
working-class communities, unaccountable and corrupt municipal
government, unlawful detention and persecution of immigrants — are
common across the hemisphere, but Miami was also home to the largest
pro-war, pro-Bush demonstrations in the United States (thoughtfully
declaring “First Saddam, then Fidel!”). This is the context for
November. Residents of what is touted as the poorest large urban center
in the United States will foot a good portion of the $16 million it will
cost to host the meetings. Further, they will be asked, for a week, to
patiently bear the militarization of the city’s downtown — miles of
barricades, public transportation and movement restrictions, columns of
roving paramilitary — while the local and international elite go about
the high-stakes business of negotiating details that will impact the
lives of everyone in the hemisphere. This is where we come in. 

- 305, take it to the house! - 

This is the invitation that you and 800 million of your closest friends
have been waiting for. We, the undersigned groups and loose
associations, are calling for creative, decentralized, autonomous
actions in response to the FTAA ministerial November 20–21, 2003. 

Some of the immediate goals: - Delay, disrupt, and topple the FTAA
meetings. - Bury the City of Miami’s hopes for a flawless ministerial
and their plans to house the permanent FTAA Secretariat. - Engage in the
globalization debate like our excluded brothers and sisters in the
South, so that our actions resonate across the hemisphere, and we
demonstrate that we can and will play a part in this struggle. 

Make no mistake, Miami police chief John Timoney (of Philly RNC 
2000 fame) is gearing for a conflict the likes of which this city has
never seen. Expect everything from infiltration and preemptive strikes,
to brutal repression and trumped up charges. It is important that we
begin preparing now, forming tight affinity groups, educating and
mobilizing our communities, and rounding up legal, medic, and media
resources. Out-of-town guests should understand that the activist
infrastructure here is extremely limited; self-sufficiency is key. To
that end, for the benefit of orienting and informing affinity groups
well into, or just initiating, their Miami travel/action planning, we
will be releasing monthly statements addressing the progress in our
work, the latest developments in the City’s security plans, and other
pressing concerns. As the lone anti-capitalist, non-hierarchical and
anti-authoritarian elements active in the South Florida mobilization, we
encourage all civil disobedience, direct action, and logistical support
groups to get in touch so that we may begin coordinating our efforts as
best we can and in as timely a manner as possible. Our task: roll out
the welcome mat. Your task: be bold, creative, strategic and
unprecedented. 

La lucha es larga y ellos son muchos, pero nosotros somos muchos mas.
Siempre seremos muchos mas. 

Come to Miami in November. History beckons you. Perhaps paradise
awaits... 

*800 Million vs. 34 Coalition, Miami/Dade County, Florida 
*FTAA Wrecking Crew, Broward County, Florida 
*Running Dogs of Global Justice, Palm Beach County, Florida 

For more information: http://www.stopftaa.org or contact:
maito:n20 at hushmail.com 

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*The above groups abide by the PGA Hallmarks**. We are prophets against
profit, informal and committed to bringing forth the adolescent dream of
social upheaval and revolution insofar as it will advance the
realization of the new world we carry in our hearts (which is growing as
we speak). 
** [Ed. Note: Antiauthoritarian anticapitalist for direct action] 

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