Quebec: 2001: A new Seattle?

Quebec 2001: A new Seattle?

WHAT'S HAPPENING NEXT APRIL 2001?: Next April 20-22,
2001, the Summit of the Americas meeting will be taking
place in Quebec City (the previous two Summits were held
in Miami (1994) and Santiago (1998)). The Summit brings
together all the 34 leaders of North, South and Central
America, as well as the Caribbean (except Cuba). The
Summit intends to talk about issues like hemispheric
integration and migration, security and terrorism,
democracy and human rights, as well as the proposed Free
Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) ÿ agreement. The
Summit of the Americas is in many ways a pre-packaged
media spectacle for the leaders of the hemisphere, in a
controlled atmosphere of gala dinners, cocktail parties
and photo ops. Thousands of delegates and media
representatives are to attend the gathering, as well as
thousands of police in what will be the largest security
and police operation in Canadian history.

WHAT IS THE FTAA?: In simple terms, the FTAA is the
planned extension of the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) to the entire hemisphere (except
Cuba). It's not just a geographic extension, but also an
extension of the reach of big business into vast areas
of public policy. The FTAA is to be fully WTO-
compatible, as well as include investment sections that
are identical to the Multilateral Agreement on
Investment (MAI). The FTAA was first launched at the
Miami Summit (1994) and nine negotiating groups have
been actively meeting and negotiating since the Santiago
Summit (1998). The proposed deadline to sign and
implement the FTAA is 2005. According to Canada's Trade
Minister, "The FTAA is inextricably linked to the Summit
of the Americas process." Together, the Summit and the
FTAA are two key ways to promote American imperialism
and Canadian paternalism in Latin America. The actual
negotiating of the FTAA occurs within the working groups
who have most recently been meeting in Miami. These
working groups in turn report to the trade ministers of
their respective countries. The trade ministers meet
once a year. This year's meeting is to take place in
Argentina in early April, a few weeks before the Quebec
City Summit.

WHAT IS THE CLAC?: Partially in response to the upcoming
Summit of the Americas meeting, and partially to
reinforce existing local networks of resistance, the
Anti-Capitalist Convergence (la Convergence des luttes
anti-capitalistes, or CLAC) came together last April in
Montreal, one full year before the Summit. The CLAC
basis of unity (attached below) asserts clear opposition
to capitalism, imperialism, neo-liberalism and
patriarchy while asserting values of mutual aid,
solidarity and genuine democracy. It is autonomous,
decentralized and non-hierarchical, and rejects
bureaucratic, top-down models of organizing. Respecting
a diversity of tactics, the CLAC supports the use of a
variety of creative initiatives, ranging from popular
education to direct action. With regards to the Summit
of the Americas, and the FTAA, the CLAC adopts a
confrontational attitude, and rejects reformist
alternatives like lobbying which cannot have a major
impact on inherently anti-democratic processes. For more
info about CLAC's "Projects and Initiatives", please e-
mail  clac@tao.ca.

WHAT IS CASA?: The CLAC will be collaborating closely
with the recently formed Summit of the Americas
Welcoming Committee (le Comite d'Accueil du Sommet des
Ameriques, or CASA). CASA is a Quebec City-based group,
comprised of activists and organizers who are involved
in local grassroots struggles. ÿTheir basis of unity
includes anti-capitalism, anti-patriarchy, a refusal of
hierarchies, autonomy, non-reformism and a respect for a
diversity of tactics. CASA, like CLAC, meet in open,
decisional, general assemblies. CLAC will be
collaborating with CASA on logistics, awareness raising
and other actions. CASA can be reached at their
temporary e-mail address: ÿ la_casa2001@hotmail.com.

APRIL 20th DAY OF ACTION: The CLAC and CASA will be
working together closely in raising awareness, as well
as helping to reinforce and build existing networks of
resistance to capitalist globalization. We are also
looking beyond April, focusing on continuing mobilizing
efforts after the Quebec Summit. As well, we want to
avoid the dynamic of "summit-hopping", and are
encouraging local actions as much as mobilizing
specifically for Quebec City. However, one major focal
point will clearly be the Summit itself, particularly a
Day of Action scheduled for Friday, April 20, when the
Summit of the Americas is due to commence in Quebec
City. The Day of Action will respect a diversity of
tactics, and aims to disrupt, to the maximum extent
possible, the holding of the Summit of the Americas
meeting. We are encouraging as many people as possible
to mobilize for direct action, in Quebec City and
elsewhere, on April 20, 2001.

CARNIVAL AGAINST CAPITALISM: The CLAC is also organizing
a Carnival against Capitalism that is to include events
in Quebec City and Montreal over the month of April, and
which culminates with the Day of Action on April 20. The
Carnival will include conferences, teach-ins, concerts,
cabarets, workshops, street theatre, protests and direct
action. The exact event schedule will be announced in
the upcoming weeks and months.

..

GETTING MORE INFORMATION: If you want to receive regular
e-mail updates from the CLAC, please send a message to
 clac@tao.ca with "subscribe CLAC external updates" in
the main text. If you are from the Montreal-area, or you
would like to get the more frequent updates from the
various working groups of the CLAC (predominantly in
French, but often translated into English and Spanish),
send a message to  clac@tao.ca with "subscribe CLAC
internal updates". If you want to be part of a moderated
e-mail list that shares information about the FTAA, send
an e-mail with a blank subject line to  lists@tao.ca with
"subscribe ftaa-l" as the main text.

BASIC CONTACT INFORMATION:

e-mail:  clac@tao.ca
web:  http://www.quebec2001.net
tel: +1 514 526-8946
post: la CLAC,
c/o la Librairie Alternative
2035, boulevard St-Laurent, 2nd floor
Montreal, Quebec, H2X 2T3 CANADA