Peoples' Global Action against "Free" Trade and the World Trade Organisation

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What is the PGA?

From the 18th to the 20th of May 1998, heads of state and ministers from all over the world met in Geneva for the 2nd Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the multilateral trade system (GATT and WTO), the main instrument of transnational capital for organising and enforcing global economic governance. This event intended, in the words of its organisers, to "celebrate the past while preparing the way for the future" of trade liberalisation — i.e., of the destruction of rural societies, dignity in labour, the environment, cultural diversity and self-determination.

From the 23rd to the 25th of February 1998, peoples' movements from all continents met in Geneva and launched a worldwide coordination of resistance against the global market, a new alliance of struggle and mutual support called the Peoples' Global Action against "Free" Trade and the World Trade Organisation (PGA). This new platform will serve as a global instrument for communication and co-ordination for all those fighting against the destruction of humanity and the planet by the global market, building up local alternatives and peoples' power. The first worldwide co-ordination of local struggles during the WTO ministerial conference in Geneva in May 1998 was a huge success: many different demonstrations, actions and Global Street Parties took place on all five continents from the 16th to the 20th of May.

The hallmarks of the alliance are: 

1. A very clear rejection of the WTO and other trade liberalisation agreements (like APEC, the EU, NAFTA, etc.) as active promoters of a socially and environmentally destructive globalisation;
2. A confrontational attitude, since we do not think that lobbying can have a major impact in such biased and undemocratic organisations, in which transnational capital is the only real policy-maker;
3. A call to non-violent civil disobedience and the construction of local alternatives by local people, as answers to the action of governments and corporations;
4. An organisational philosophy based on decentralisation and autonomy.

These four points were the basis of the discussions in February 1998, the common positions on which we constructed the platform and drafted the manifesto. They were developed in a discussion process among organisations from all over the world that included an international meeting in August 1997.

manifesto-related questions: agpweb (AT) lists.riseup.net

information about PGA : info@agp.org

action proposals / press questions : press-action@agp.org