STOP THE SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS!
an anti-capitalist convergence, Fri, 21 Apr 2000April 2001 Quebec City
Next April 2001, Quebec City has the dubious honor of hosting the Summit of the Americas, which brings together all the so-called leaders of North, Central and South America (except Cuba). For a few days, Quebec will be turned into a militarized zone as these heads of state, and their big business pals, gather for a series of meetings, photo-ops and posh dinners.
The stated purpose of Summit meeting is to put the final touches on the Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement (FTAA) which aims to extend the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to the entire hemisphere. The FTAA is supposed to be adopted no later than 2005.
Like the WTO, IMF, WB, APEC and the rest of the insidious alphabet soup, the FTAA is another engine — in the form of a "free" trade accord - which drives capitalist globalization.
In the spirit of Seattle, and the anti-IMF/WB demonstrations in Washington on A16/17, we've started to organize to make sure the Summit is effectively short-circuited. We want to go beyond symbolic protest or reformism to making sure the Summit of the Americas is shut down.
The following is early notice, one year before the actual summit, about the current organizing efforts by activists in Montreal and Quebec City as well as Toronto.
In Quebec City, local activists have already spent months planning their activities to confront the Summit of Americas.
On the initiative of activists in Toronto, a shutdown of the upcoming Organization of American States (OAS) meeting in Windsor, Ontario (across the river from Detroit) is being planned for early June of this year. As well, Toronto will be hosting the Finance ministers of the Americas in March 2001, one month before the leader's meeting in Quebec City.
In Montreal, an "anti-capitalist convergence" is in the process of forming. Our preliminary basis of unity is a clear anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, anti-FTAA position which rejects all forms of domination and oppression. We are still determining the exact framework of our network or coalition, but we'd like to encompass as many groups and individuals as possible, representing and respecting a variety of tactics, while stressing decentralization, autonomy and affinity as organizing principles. We wish to creatively, effectively and militantly oppose the FTAA, as opposed to engaging in lobbying or reformist strategies. The shut down is envisioned as part of a larger campaign of awareness raising, popular education and skill sharing which complements existing organizing efforts.
We believe it is possible to be radical and effective, creative as well as militant.
The FTAA and the Summit of the Americas are just two more pillars of the global capitalist system that need to be opposed. If you would like to be informed or get involved in our organizing efforts, we encourage you to get in touch.
[NOTE: The next meeting of Montreal-area activists will be Wednesday, April 26th at 7pm at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) at the corner of St-Denis and Ste-Catherine (metro Berri-UQAM) in room A-2805.]
Tel: 514-526-8946
e-mail: lombrenoire@tao.ca
web: http://www.tao.ca/~stopftaa (current site of the STOP THE OAS/FTAA Coalition)[end]