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Open
for Business Closed to the Public
People's
Summit Responds to "Three Amigos" Agenda
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.
The SPP process
is blatantly controlled by the North American Competitiveness Council
(NACC) made up of the top 30 corporations CEO's in the three countries--confirmed
by President Calderón when he stated clearly that "this
morning, the Business Leaders gave us a specific agenda to follow"
and "we are here to support them".
President George
Bush revealed his motives behind the SPP and holding his summit
in New Orleans when he stated, "I chose New Orleans for our
meetings with Mexico and Canada because I wanted to send a clear
signal to the people of my country that New Orleans is open for
business." New Orleans has been ravaged by the very profit
schemes typically saved for export, while the basic social infrastructure
of this city has been neglected.
"This is
the most developed and advanced form of privatization for an entire
city in the U.S. at the expense of people of color and indigenous
people fighting for their right to return," said Cindy Wiesner
of Grassroots Global Justice.
Participants
of the Summit from outside New Orleans witnessed the utter failures
of the federal and local government to respond to the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina and their failure in rebuilding the school
system, addressing the housing crisis, providing affordable physical
and mental health care, and creating fair working and living standards
for all residents.
"I was
shocked to learn that in New Orleans how prevalent racism was during
and after the crisis" said David Kane with the Alliance for
Responsible Trade.
"What we
have experienced in New Orleans should be a warning to other communities
in the U.S. of how far they will take these policies," said
Mayaba Lebenthal of Critical Resistance New Orleans. "The result
of investing in privatization, rather than holistic community rebuilding,
has led to unsafe, substandard living conditions."
"This calamity
was not a natural disaster but a manmade disaster" said Kimberley
Richards a resident of the Gulf Region and organizer in New Orleans
with the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond. "Whether
we are home or in the Katrina/Rita Diaspora we are displaced and
need the UN principles of displacement and human rights to be honored.
The restoration process cannot be just about bricks and mortar but
must restore the fabric of the community which is the culture and
music of New Orleans."
Fundamental
issues affecting the future of our societies are at stake under
the SPP plan. "It is unacceptable that human security, energy
policy, workers rights, and environmental standards, are left in
the hands of Walmart, Lockheed Martin, Halliburton, Power Corp and
the like, of our world", said Pierre-Yves Serinet, from the
Quebec Network on Hemispheric Integration (RQIC), one of the four
anti-free-trade coalitions in the region. "With the SPP, we
are facing the privatization of policy making, tantamount to a Corporate
Coup d'Etat, where deep changes are taking place, bypassing our
democratic institutions, like parliaments and Congress", he
added.
"Nancy
Pelosi's blocking of U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement demonstrates
why the Bush Administration is so determined to keep the SPP process
outside of Congressional authority," said Tom Loudon of the
Alliance for Responsible Trade. "Undermining democratic processes
is the necessary ingredient to push these policies through."
"Silencing
the people of New Orleans through forced removal and continued displacement
of many pre-Katrina residents is also a reality," said Lebenthal.
"This is done through military evacuation, destruction of public
housing and limited affordable housing, privatization of public
schools, and mass incineration."
In New Orleans
about 2,500 arrests are made a month rather then reinvesting in
the communities most hard hit by unfair local, national and international
economic agreements, such as SPP and NAFTA.
Now we are exporting
this policy as President Bush reaffirmed his commitment to the Plan
Mexico (Merida Initiative), providing $500 million dollars in aid,
primarily to Mexican military and police force to help fight the
"war on drugs" in Mexico, modeled after the failed plan
in Colombia.
Many people
have not given up the fight however. Opposition gathered for a People's
Summit, a convergence of over 35 organizations representing marginalized
people to link the Gulf Coast struggle to the fight for the survival
of communities in Mexico, Canada, Quebec, and the rest of the United
States. The Summit hopes to strengthen and deepen a multi-national
grassroots movement that can effectively address these trade and
security policies.
"As social
movements, we are advancing in defining how an alternative model
of relations among peoples can foster the harmonious development
of national societies founded on social justice and the equitable
distribution of wealth", said Alejandro Villamar, from the
Mexican Action Network on Free Trade (RMALC). "Many activities
we held in New Orleans allowed us to begin to build a common project
in North America," he concluded.
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