[ home ]
[ history & mission ]
[ action alerts ]
[ archive ]
[ human rights network ]
[ election
observers ]
[ monthly
bulletin ]
[ delegations & brigades ]
[ integrated development ]
[ language school ]
[ solidarity crafts ]
[ volunteers ]
[ links ]
CIS
Boulevard Universitario #4
Colonia El Roble
San Salvador, El Salvador
Centroamérica
Tel/FAX: +503 226-2623
cis_elsalvador@yahoo.com
World Trade Organization Meeting in Cancun, Mexico on Wednesday September 10
Stand in solidarity with protestors and call your elected
officials.
Say no to the Central American Free Trade Agreement!
September 8, 2003
The World Trade Organization (WTO) will convene its fifth Ministerial meeting on Wednesday, September 10 in Cancun, Mexico. Salvadoran and other Central American activists will be well represented among the estimated 150,000 people who are gathering to voice their discontent over economic policies that the World Trade Organization supports. Central American activists are using the gathering to protests the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) - known in the region as the Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC)-
Now is a particularly important time to educate citizens and pressure national governments about CAFTA. Central American governments and the White House are seeking to speed up the negotiation process so as to have CAFTA finalized by the end of 2003. Many in opposition to the agreement think this has a great deal to do with the upcoming presidential elections in El Salvador. The Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional (FMLN) has a better chance than ever before of wining the 2004 presidential race. The FMLN has voiced its opposition to CAFTA, it is assumed that if the FMLN wins they will remove El Salvador from the negotiating process.
The problems arising out of “free trade” in its current form are already apparent in El Salvador. An influx of heavily subsidized U.S. agricultural products has made it increasingly hard for small, medium and even large farmers to turn a profit. Many have sold their plots of land and moved to the city or abroad to find work. The scarcity of domestic employment has forced the majority to move to the United States. Unemployment has in fact increased in El Salvador every year since a “free trade” agreement was signed with Mexico in 2001. Unskilled women can sometimes find jobs in the garment factories (maquilas) outside of San Salvador, but pay is substantially less than the national minimum wage of $144 a month. These are the negative impacts under current trade agreements that have left the door “half open.” CAFTA will open the door all the way.
Once it is signed, all national laws will be subsumed under those codified in CAFTA. National governments will have no right to place stipulations on business agreements with foreign or domestic corporations (such as the use of raw materials that originate within the country or cessation of the use of certain toxic materials), if it impinges on the businesses’ ability to make a profit.
Armando Flores of the Salvadoran NGO Committee for the Defense of the Consumer, notes that CAFTA is but a step on the way to creating the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). “CAFTA is a compromise because the FTAA negotiations are moving too slowly. This is a way of assembling the Free Trade Area of the Americas piece by piece.”
The CIS is calling on all its network members to stand in solidarity with those protesting in Cancun. We are asking U.S. citizens to contact their federal representatives to voice opposition to CAFTA. We ask citizens of all other nations to contact WTO Director General Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi. Make clear that you are well aware of the negative impact this agreement will have on Central American economies, and that you stand in solidarity with those who have traveled to Mexico in protest. We are requesting that everyone send an email, fax or letter and follow up with a phone call this week.
(A more detailed analysis of CAFTA and its possible implications will be included in the October issue of the CIS’ monthly bulletin).
U.S. Citizens, your congressional representatives should know your feelings regarding this issue, as their vote will ultimately decide whether the United States agrees to join CAFTA. You can find contact information for your Representatives and Senators at http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
Also contact U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick at:
United States Trade Representative
600 17th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20508
United States of America
1-888-473-USTR (8787)
contactustr@ustr.gov
Send letters and faxes to World Trade Organization Director General Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi via the Mexican Organizing Committee offices.
Montecito
No.38 Piso 32. Oficina 1,WTC México.
Colonia
Nápoles C.P 03810
México, D.F.
Teléfono
(52 55) 54882860
Fax (52 55)
54882861
Faxes letters and emails should also be sent to the central WTO offices.
Centre William Rappard,
Rue de Lausanne 154,
CH-1211 Geneva 21,
Switzerland.
Tel: (41-22) 739 51 11
Fax: (41-22) 731 42 06
email:
enquiries@wto.org
More information about CAFTA is available from the following resources:
Alianza Social Continental –
Hemispheric Social Alliance –
www.acs-hsa.org
CounterPunch, “CAFTA: Free Trade vs. Democracy” - http://www.counterpunch.org/engler02102003.html
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, CAFTA Resources –http://www.ceip.org/files/news/CAFTA-resource-page.asp?from=newsnews#pubs
Oxfam America, Investment Under
CAFTA -
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/advocacy/art5541.html
Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) -http://www.cispes.org/english/Campaign_Against_CAFTA_FTAA/Campaign_Updates_and_Analysis.htm
A Sample letter or email might look like this:
Dear______,
I am contacting you to express my concern over the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) that is currently in its final stages of negotiation, and is expected to be finalized by the end of the year. Although touted here and abroad as a cure for social ills such as poverty and unemployment, the record so far on Free Trade agreements indicates that they favor the interests of multinational corporations at the expense of human rights and environmental protection.
The impact of “free trade” in its current form is already apparent in much of Central America. Lowered import tariffs have flooded the agricultural market with subsidized U.S. products, forcing producers to sell their land and move to the city or abroad (primarily the United States). This has served to lower domestic production and increase imports on staples such as corn, beans and rice in every country in the region except Nicaragua. With its removal of even more trade barriers CAFTA will only worsen the situation of Central American farmers.
Foreign investment could indeed be a viable way of creating employment for Central American workers, but many of the jobs created thus far have been in garment factories (maquilas) that pay wages that to not cover basic costs of living and subject workers to harsh conditions.
As a constituent I am asking you to vote no in the upcoming decision about whether the United States will be a part of CAFTA. The inordinate power given to corporations establishes a system that is fundamentally undemocratic. If we truly intend to support democracy and the well being of people around the world, we need to oppose trade agreements that privilege money and markets over people. As I know you too believe in these principles, I hope you will vote accordingly regarding United States membership in the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Thank you for your time,
Sincerely,
Talking points:
- CAFTA will open up ALL public services in Central America to privatization (including education, health care, and water)
- CAFTA will make it illegal for participating countries to refuse to import genetically modified foods.
- Proponents of CAFTA are promising Central American farmers access to the United States market, despite the fact that the U.S. has no plan to lower agricultural subsidies to it’s own domestic producers.
- Small and medium sized businesses in Central America will not be able to compete domestically with imports produced by Transnational Corporations, nor will they have the resources to access foreign markets. This will push down salaries as smaller producers try to lower the cost of production to remain competitive.
- CAFTA will increase even more Central Americas economic dependence on the United States, thereby giving the U.S. more leverage in negotiating other agreements.