Activists mobilize for FTAA protest
what is predicted to be bigger than the WTO
On April 20-22 in Quebec City, Canada

Activists mobilize for FTAA protest
what is predicted to be bigger than the WTO

On April 20-22 in Quebec City, Canada, leaders of thirty-four
nations will meet to further the ratification of the
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA),
set for completion before 2005.
If implemented, FTAA policies, a more extreme version of North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
will spread devastating effects throughout the Americas,
further broadening the disparities between rich and poor
and destroying the environment, as corporate interests
continue to take precedence above all else.
An array of non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
unions, grassroots groups, and concerned individuals have
united to contest FTAA's undemocratic process and its intended
goals.
Broad coalitions are planning massive demonstrations
in Quebec City during the April convention,
as well as solidarity actions along both US/Canadian
and US/Mexican borders, and throughout the Americas
and the Caribbean.
Learn more about planned border actions by visiting
sf.indymedia.org
stopftaa.org

There is an Alternate Vision

Alliance for Responsible Trade (ART),
which includes representatives of environmental, human-rights, U.S. labor, women's, family-farm, development, religious,
and public-policy organizations, has presented the
Committee of Government Representatives on Civil Society
Participation with "Alternatives for the Americas:
Building a Hemispheric Peoples' Agreement."
The document contends that
"trade and investment should not be ends in themselves,
but rather the instruments for achieving just
and sustainable development.
Citizens must have the right to participate in the formulation
, implementation, and evaluation of hemispheric social and
economic policies.
Central goals of these policies should be to promote economic sovereignty, social welfare, and reduced inequality at all levels."
Learn more about the Alliance for Responsible Trade at www.igc.org/dgap/art/