Below are 4 pieces of writing in chronological form.
This week the city of Maimi will be hosting an international meeting of all the governments of the Western Hemisphere, apart from the communist government of Cuba. The topic of their meeting is the highly controversial Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The FTAA is an expansion of the now10 year old NAFTA, which eliminated trade restrictions between Canada, the US and Mexico.
In it's previous gathering in Quebec City, Canada the FTAA was met with incredible resistance where the perimeter fence, protecting the elite from the voice of dissent (yes, there will be a fence in Miami as well), was torn down and the police state created by the Canadian government was overwhelmed by the amount of people actively resisting the summit. In the upcoming days detailed diary entries of the mobilization in Miami will be available here, but before, in order to better understand how the proposed expansion of a continental free trade zone will effect the rest of the countries in central and southern America it is useful to look at what NAFTA has done for the people of Mexico and the US.
The Legacy of NAFTA
Underneath NAFTA all working people of North America, the animals and the environment sat on the losing side while the corporations continued to reap the benefits of their trade agreement. To put things into a more concrete perspective here are some numbers. 7 years into NAFTA the minimum wage in Mexico has dropped 18 percent while the manufacturing wage has dropped 21 percent. The drop in manufacturing wages has come with the increase of maquiladoras. Maquiladoras are factories established within Mexico that are run in sweatshop conditions. During these first 7 years of NAFTA the number of maquiladoras in Mexico jumped from 546,433 to 1,240,840 (more than double). These jobs are of course not created out of nowhere but are jobs that had once resided in the US but have now escaped to the south of the border for cheaper labor and lax environmental laws. While the number of US workers that have lost their jobs due to NAFTA is not available as of June 2001, 356,000 workers had qualified for a special retraining program for workers whose previous employees had moved to Mexico or Canada or had shut down due to competition from these countries.
One of the counter arguments against this critique is that the corporations that move to Mexico are in effect providing a channel of income for the population by providing them with work. This is not the case as the number of people living in poverty have actually increased (by approx. 10%) even though productivity has also increased by 47.7 percent. Also we must consider where the employees of the newly formed maquiladoras are coming from and not assume that they were unemployed from the start. The central aspect of free trade, as the name implies, is the free flow of goods into and out of countries without any imposition of tariffs. This enables big agribusinesses to « dump » their products into the Mexican market. Farmers that have traditionally relied on agriculture for their sustenance and income have not been able to compete with the « dumping » and have been pushed to working in maquiladoras.
The effect that NAFTA has had on the environment is especially devastating. Corporations that are constantly looking to maximize their profits are cutting their costs straight to the environment. In Mexico, according to research done in Tufts University, air pollution levels have doubled in the three years following the implementation of NAFTA. While the corporations of countries of the north benefit from NAFTA and do this at the expense of the Mexican environment, those who have participated in the creation of NAFTA, many of them the same people who reside on the boards that govern corporate entities, have not considered protecting their own environment. One of the starkest examples of this is a case brought forward by Canadian corporation Methanex.
Under chapter 11 of NAFTA corporations are able to sue governments for profit losses (whether they actually lost profits or potentially might lose profits), the case filed under chapter 11 by Methanex clearly illustrates the danger posed by NAFTA. In 1999 Methanex attempted to sue the state of California for $1 billion because of a ban on MTBE. MTBE, a gasoline additive, was banned due to the environmental and health impact it had in polluting groundwater. Methanex was claiming that this ban was a trade barrier. The NAFTA panel that examined the case refused to award Methanex the $1 billion in estimated losses.
The environment and people of Mexico have not been as lucky as those of California. In 1997 US corporation Metalclad sued the Mexican government for a local decision to stop the construction of a hazardous landfill near the city of Guadalcazur in the state of San Luis Potosi. After three years the NAFTA panel decided that the Mexican Government was to pay $16.5 million in damages to Metalclad.
FTAA: Bigger and Worse
The FTAA would effectively expand NAFTA to all of the western hemisphere and underneath the guise of opening up the markets of large economies such as Brazil and Argentina, crush the local autonomy of indigenous communities, put labor underneath immense pressure from corporate control and devastate one of the world's most biodiverse environments. Well why are the leaders of these countries allowing such horrible trade agreements to literally take control of the internal affairs of their countries? The answer is twofold; partially they are left without a lot of options since most of the governments of Latin America are already underneath a huge amount of international debt accumulated by years of borrowing from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and now are in a disadvantaged negotiating position. Their unstable economies enable the US to strong arm the countries of Latin America who are desperate for stability and relief from financial burden.
The second part of the answer lies in the true nature of most Latin American governments. While in the recent years great changes have taken place in electoral politics all over Latin America (i.e. Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina) most of the leaders still represent the economically privileged class and race of their countries, indigenous representation is still far from realization and many leaders are also investors looking to profit from free trade agreements through relationships with multinational corporations.
This misrepresentation is being challenged today with popular uprisings across the hemisphere (and soon in Miami) and this past October in Bolivia a huge revolt led by indigenous and working people ousted the president Gonzalo Sáhez de Lozada (aka Goni) because of his insistence in implementing neo-liberal policies. He fled with his family, interior circle of ministers including the minister of defense (who if he had stayed would undoubtedly be held accountable for the 80 civilian deaths that had occurred in the past month during protests) and $85 million from the National Bank. The location of his flee is particularly significant for it is the city of Miami and while Goni might be safe in Florida, his ideals, embodied in the FTAA
When one ventures into downtown Miami these days what is clear as day is that global capitalism is on the run and in panic. An approximately 10 block section of Miami has been transformed into a police state that is shocking to activists that had thought they had experienced heavy police repression before in previous mobilizations they have been involved in. At least 20 people have been arrested in the last week leading up to the mobilization against the FTAA while many more have been detained. All of these arrests have had charges such as loitering and obstructing the sidewalk and most have them have happened while people were flyering as an attempt to outreach to the citizens of Miami. Yesterday brought the most shocking overreaction from the Miami Police Department yet. Two activists were downtown to attend a rally against big tobacco when detained by police officers. Following their detainment their car was rigged with explosives and blown open shattering all the windows in the car. The reasoning was a suspicious object in the trunk thought to be a bomb, but of course nothing of that sort was found.
Unfortunately the police do not realize that they are being completely duped. The anarchist scare circulating within the ranks of the police and within the population is includes the claim that protestors have bought 15,000 cue balls to effectively combat the police. Even crazier is the rumor that activists were going to inject syringes filled with shit into civilians. The outrageous nature of these rumors are a testament to the hysteria that is sweeping through Miami right now.
The interaction with the local population has especially been a challenge for activists visiting Miami underneath the air of paranoia and fear. But the challenge has been accepted and a amazing outreach effort is being made with flyers explaining to those who live in Miami the ill effects of free trade and dispelling the stereotype of the « violent anarchist ». This outreach effort has been coming out of what is being called « the welcome center » but what should more accurately be called « the organizing center ». The Welcome Center was set up with the efforts of many activists who arrived in Miami weeks earlier to coordinate the organizing efforts. This center is also the hub for coordinating the direct actions planed against the meetings and precisely for this reason it has attracted an immense number of press attention. At any given time there are at least 4 news vans outside the center trying to figure out what the deal is with these mysterious anarchists that police have been warning them against. Outreach isn't the only thing coming out of the welcome center. The efforts include an outstandingly organized Food Not Bombs kitchen . Food Not Bombs is an anarchist organization, with hundreds of chapters around the country, that collect food that would normally be discarded (through donations and often by collecting them from dumpsters) and cook meals to be served free of charge at public locations. 5 Food not Bombs chapters will be feeding thousands of people for the duration of the protests.
An integral part of the welcome center is the presence of the FTAA Independent Media Center (IMC). Within the IMC around a hundred media activists are working hard to counter the disinformation campaign being led by the city authorities and supported by the corporate media. A video team is assembled to document every aspect of the events happening here in Miami, inside and outside of the FTAA meetings. An amazing audio coverage is also coming out of the FTAA IMC in the form of two different web streams.
The planning for the direct actions within the relatively young counter- globalization movement in the United States has always been coordinated by spokescouncil meetings. The idea behind a spokescouncil is to provide a non- hierarchical forum for representatives of various affinity groups (people that partake in these actions are organized into affinity groups of 5-10 friends in order to maximize safety and effectiveness) to dish out ideas and come up with an effective plan. These spokescouncil meetings have been happening daily at the welcome center.
One of the problems that is becoming more and more evident within the counter-globalization movement is the emergence of some people in the US as « movement leaders ». This is especially problematic since we claim to be a non-hierarchical and decentralized movement. This concern shared by many activists here in Miami will surely become a topic of major discussion in the days to follow.
Another issue that has become apparent is the interaction that the « direct action movement » (mostly white, middle class and young people) and the unions in the United States, this is a key issue since workers are those who are primarily effected by globalization. This interaction is currently taking place through the accommodation of the « direct actions » to the permitted rally and march being held by the AFL-CIO. The permitted march is scheduled for 12PM while the major street actions will happen at 7AM and 6 blocks away from the convening point for the permitted march.
I woke up at 6 am, an ungodly time for a protest. Although there was no possibility of blocking the entrance of the delegates into the FTAA meetings (since they were staying within the security perimeter) this time was called partly by some of the organizers of the Direct Action Framework due to concerns about interfering with the permitted AFL-CIO march and partly because of nostalgia towards morning actions such as those that prevented the WTO from convening in Seattle.
As I drove downtown with my affinity group of 4, our eyes still half closed with sleep, the amount of police presence was not surprising yet still overwhelming. Riot police were in full gear far away from the location where all of the protests were to begin, a clear overreaction and a prophecy of the following hours to come.
Government center was not exactly full of people. There were definitely enough police to successfully contain the crowd. While the march was supposed to start at 7 AM around 7:30 the puppets that were promised to lead the march had still not arrived. Even worse a 400 person group of black bloc participants (a black bloc is a strategic formation where members dress in black, cover their faces, and stick together for protection from the police while participating in illegal actions such as property damage or fighting the police) were being prevented from joining the march. I looked around in concern seeing the overwhelming police force and the lack of numbers and militancy in the crowd to engage in effective direct action. Was the fence going to come down or were we all going to get the shit kicked out of us.? We would see pretty soon.
2 hours later unfortunately the answer was clearly the later and the overtly militarized Miami Police Department, underneath the command of notorious chief Timoney, had successfully shoved and battered the crowd of about 2,000 people eastwards on to Biscayne Boulevard.
Standing on Biscayne Boulevard in front of the perimeter fence protecting the 34 trade ministers I realized the irony of the situation. For months self-declared representatives of the counter-globalization movement had insisted on establishing certain agreements with the permitted AFL-CIO march and to not have confrontational actions in the vicinity of their rally/march. Our location was precisely the meeting point for the AFL-CIO march and those responsible for the relocation were the police department. In this moment of confusion few members of the group leaped on to the fence attached hooks and made an attempt to pull down the perimeter fence. Immediately the police reacted from the other side of the fence opening fire onto the crowd with rubber bullets and tear gas canisters. It took seconds for the tear gas canister to be returned to its original sender but the conditions for conflict had been set early in the day and before the AFL-CIO sponsored busses had arrived.
The following hours were spent in tense anticipation of something happening. I witnessed many undercover cops dressed in protestor garb (some with ski masks some with bandanas covering their faces) snatching activists with a range of methods from straight up assault to shooting protestors with taser guns. Many activists were shot with these guns forcing them to drop to the ground frozen and in paralysis. Amongst all of this the AFL-CIO march started to commence as members of various unions including Steelworkers, electricians, machinists and many more lined up in Biscayne boulevard to start their march. For many that participated in the frustrated morning actions and were hoping to be part of the AFL-CIO initiated march this also provided to be a frustrating experience. Now activists found that the policing authority had increased as the AFL-CIO introduced their march marshals. For many anti-authoritarians who have historically been at the forefront of the struggle against capitalist globalization the march marshals exposed the true nature of the hierarchical structures found within the AFL-CIO.
Still, since solidarity with the working class is something I feel very strongly about this feeling influenced me to march with the various union locals in the streets of Miami. The march was spirited and had high energy although the route was very short and the unions were prevented from reaching the fence, that was within their permit, by the line of riot cops left over from the morning.
The march ended and soon after the young radicals ,joined with a few union members, initiated a drum led march to the police line. And then the police riot began...
They fired indiscriminately at old people at young people, at students and at unionized workers, at those fighting back and at those trying to get out of the way. Everybody was hit with an array of weapons. Soon the concrete was covered with plastic bullets and pellets and the heavy stench of tear gas and pepper spray were in the air.
Then came the only direct action that happened throughout the whole day, active resistance to the police state. Hundreds of people actively started to resist the police initiated violence. Impromptu barricades were erected from urban junk in order to protect the crowd trying to evacuate the area. Tear gas canisters were returned as young militants taunted the police dancing in the tear gas protected behind their gas masks. The resistance was so successful that almost no one partaking got arrested. At the welcome center panic was in the air as a raid was expected any moment...
People were still in shock from the events that had taken place the day before. The violent repression felt from the police translated into an overwhelming fear and paranoia after the street actions were over. I was still tired from evacuating the Independent Media Center from the Convergence space which had been expected to be raided imminently. We had done this in panic but after a hour we had a chance to calm down and realize that we were in no immediate danger. Slowly people poured back into the convergence center, the IMC was set up again and the work was continued. There were many people in jail and they had to come out as soon as possible, Chief Timoney is well know for his brutal repression of dissenters and the experiences of people who were arrested during the protests against the Republican National Convention in Philladelphia, where Timoney was commissioner, were still fresh in people's minds.
I arrived late at the convergence center. Thursday's events had tired me out immensely and had warranted a few more hours of sleep. The spokescouncil meeting had already happened at 10 AM and the decision was made to have a press conference and jail solidarity demonstration outside of one of the facilities the 200 something political prisoners were being held in.
The mood was festive yet incredibly condemning of the tactics that the police had used during Thursday's demonstrations. Many representatives of groups such as Jobs for Justice and Global Exchange spoke of the police riot that had taken place and pointed out the obvious fact that the police state in Miami represented the repression of the current administration against dissent. After this brief press conference one of the organizers announced that they had negotiated with the police and we would be allowed to show our solidarity with those inside the prison system. The crowd marched from the press conference to across the jail and started chanting « Let them go! Let them go! ». Although there was absolutely no reason for it the Miami police was provocative once again and massed hundreds of riot police in front of the jail and along the both sides of the parking lot. The crowd replied in unison « There ain't no riot here take off your stupid gear. »
On top of a nearby parking lot we could see the same undercover cops that had been snatching people the day before spying into the crowd with binoculars and taking photographs using telephoto lenses. A meeting was called to decide what the best way to end the demonstration would be but before any decision was made the police made the announcement that they had received information that people had been collecting rocks and that the demonstration was now an unlawful assembly. The claim was preposterous as I was amongst the few hundred people that were completely peaceful and nobody was collecting anything. But the general feeling was that it was not worth resisting the bogus claims of police with the little numbers that were there). About 7 people in a symbolic act voluntarily got arrested but the majority of the people did not think it was worth it and started to leave the area. Obviously there was another plan in effect because one line of about 30 riot police followed the crowd that was not only dispersing but also chanting « We are dispersing! We are dispersing! » They didn't seem to get it and another line of riot cops surrounded the approximately 25 protestors, numerous journalists, legal observers and even the women that had been in constant communication with them and had made the announcement about the end of the demonstration in the first place. At this point the brutality began again as the police shot pepper spray filled pellets at demonstrators at close range, threw them to the ground by pulling on their hair and started to arrest everybody that was caught up in it trying to leave.
It was probably the most shocking overreaction I've seen to a completely non-violent protest and definitely set a new low for the so-called democracy in the United States. Chief Timoney had demonstrated how a fascist government can use force to protect the interests of the elite the day before and today he exemplified his complete lack of respect for freedom of speech and human dignity.