Stop the Free Trade Area of the Americas

On November 20 and 21, trade ministers from 34 countries will meet in Miami to negotiate the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a sweeping agreement that would extend the failed NAFTA model of corporate-driven globalisation to the entire Western Hemisphere, minus Cuba. Tens of thousands of protesters will greet these trade ministers in a massive display of opposition to the FTAA, in what is shaping up to be the most important showdown over globalisation since Seattle.

Corporate globalisation is central to the Bush Administration's broad empire-building agenda and a key cause of militarism and war, which is why United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) has made mobilising against the FTAA a major priority for the fall.

The FTAA summit comes on the heels of one of the Bush Administration's greatest political defeats to date, the September collapse of World Trade Organisation negotiations in Cancun, Mexico. At that meeting, a newly formed coalition of countries from the Global South, known as the Group of 21 - emboldened by massive protests in the streets of Cancun and solidarity protests around the world - walked out of the WTO meetings after the United States and other rich countries rejected demands that they reduce their massive agricultural subsidies. UFPJ and its member groups helped organise more than 60 solidarity events across the United States during the Cancun WTO meetings, marking a first-ever convergence between the anti-war and anti-globalisation movements.

The failure of the WTO meetings makes regional trade agreements such as the FTAA the leading edge of the Bush Administration's corporate global policy and reckless drive for empire. For all who support peace, democracy, environmental sustainability, and human dignity, the Miami mobilisation is a crucial opportunity to carry forward the momentum of Cancun and derail the FTAA.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
* Come to Miami: Take part in this historic uprising for peace and justice. Participate in some or all of the wide array of activities planned for the summit week, ranging from teach-ins and conferences to a massive legal march and rally to powerful nonviolent direct action. A virtual welcome centre will be launching soon with comprehensive information about Miami logistics, including housing (check http://www.unitedforpeace.org for the link), but in the meantime you can find transportation information at:
http://www.citizenstrade.org/miamitransportation.php
http://www.stopftaa.org/ride.php

* Cast Your Vote Against the FTAA: A broad hemispheric coalition against the FTAA is conducting a truly massive popular referendum on this disastrous agreement, gathering ballots and petitions that will be delivered to the trade ministers in Miami. Cast your vote online today at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/ftaavote or download and distribute ballots from http://www.lasolidarity.org/events/n03/ballot-ART.pdf or http://www.citizenstrade.org/ftaa_ballot.php

* Educate Yourself and Others About the Issues: An extensive list of excellent online resources about the FTAA is appended at the end of this email. United for Peace and Justice has also developed a leaflet about the links between globalisation and war and, in conjunction with United for a Fair Economy, a popular education workshop that explores the relationship between militarism and corporate globalisation:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/downloads/Globalization_and_War.pdf
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/downloads/Globalizacion_y_Guerra.pdf
http://www.faireconomy.org/econ/workshops/war_and_globalization.html

* Donate to Support the FTAA Mobilisation: We have the opportunity to derail the Bush Administration's empire-building agenda in Miami, but mobilisations on this scale cost money. We need thousands of dollars to spread the word about the FTAA mobilisation and pay for key logistical needs on the ground in Miami. Please donate whatever you can to this effort -- $10, $25, $50, or more. You can donate online right now at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/donate or by sending a check to United for Peace and Justice, P.O. Box 607, Times Square Station, NY NY 10108. Be sure to note that your donation is for our FTAA fund.

* Organise Affinity Groups to participate in creative nonviolent direct action. We urge everyone who is considering participating in nonviolent direct action to organise training in your community before you come. More information and training materials will be available soon. Some resources are available now at http://www.stopFTAA.org and http://www.rantcollective.org.

* Continue the Struggle after Miami: We strongly encourage everyone participating in the Miami mobilisation to travel to Ft. Benning, GA, to help shut down the School of the Americas on November 22 -23. This U.S. military combat training school for Latin American soldiers provides the military muscle to enforce unpopular policies of corporate globalisation throughout the hemisphere and has been linked to some of Latin America's worst human rights abuses. Leaflets jointly promoting the SOA and FTAA mobilisations are available for downloading at http://www.unitedforpeace.org. For more information, see http://www.soaw.org and http://www.lasolidarity.org

* Spread the Word: Please forward this email to your personal network and to appropriate listservs. Look for downloadable leaflets on our website, http://www.unitedforpeace.org, in the very near future.

RESOURCES AND FURTHER INFORMATION
Florida Fair Trade Coalition: http://flfairtrade.org/
Citizens Trade Campaign: http://www.citizenstrade.org/stopftaa.php
Global Exchange: http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/ftaa/
American Friends Service Committee: http://www.afsc.org/trade/learn/default.htm
Public Citizen: http://www.citizen.org/trade/ftaa/
Jobs With Justice: http://www.jwj.org/global/FTAA/stopFTAA.htm
People's Consultation on the FTAA: http://www.peoplesconsultation.org
Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Economy: http://www.asje.org/march.html
Alianza Social Continental (Hemispheric Social Alliance): http://www.asc-hsa.org
Stop the FTAA: http://www.stopftaa.org
FTAA Resistance: http://www.ftaaresistance.org
Free Carnival Area of the Americas: http://www.mediamouse.org/fcaa
RANT Trainers Collective: http://www.rantcollective.org

UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org (01) 212-868-5545