This first part of the workshop was a presentation of the differents "Plans" of Capital in latin-america given by members of a dutch solidarity collective. The second part of the workshop will be dedicated to actions coordination.

PRESENTATION

The "master plan" for all America is the FTAA (ALCA). It includes 34 countries that are going to be submited to an international law for a minimal period of 50 years. This means:

• Changes in the constitutions of many countries that now accepts collective propriety of land. The suppression of the comunal land is already a very conflicive topic in all indigenous areas.
• The reapparition of the major characteristics of the world-wide refused Multilateral Agreement on Investisement (MAI), like the possibility for mulitinational corporations to sue the states for eventual barriers to potential profit on their territories, like for example enviromental or social laws....(or political victories of social mouvements).
• Privatiation of natural ressources for genetical engeneering...

The FTAA is often called "Declaration of Univercal rights of Capital"...

At a more regional level Latin america is divided in different Plans (form north to suouth):

• PLAN PUEBLA PANAMA (PPP).
• PLAN COLOMBIA.
• ANDEAN REGIONAL INITIATIVE.
• PLAN DIGNIDAD.

[see also: Plan Puebla-Panama, Plan Colombia, Plan Dignity in Bolivia, FTAA]

All these plans are basically expropriation plans affecting directly the strong paysants component of these societies. We will take as an example the less known PLAN PUEBLA PANAMA that covers Mexico and Central-America. It has been prepared since 10 years but it is known since the election of the former Coca -Cola manager Vincente Fox in Mexico.

It is composed by 6 differents specific sub-plans;

1. Energy Plan for the Americas

It means privatisation of all gaz and oil ressources of the region to the profit of northern companies, building a pipeline from Colombia to USA, and forced displacement of populatuions living in oil areas threw militariharrasment (like in Colombia ) or threw economic breakdown of local subsistance economy. It is ,for example offering new cultures to the local paysants like eucalypus, affrican oil palm or aloe-vera that either destroy soils or have very unstable and low prices oon international markets.

2. Biological mesoamerican corridors

Since 1994 some natural areas have been declared "Biodiversity reserves" by central american goverments in order to create a "network of wild forrest areras that are now being sold to pharmaceutical corporations that use them as biotech resource. These zones must be cleared of inhabitants. Wold bank has been improving these zones in exchange of external debt partial erasement in some coutries.

3. Integrated american electrical system

A great number of private hydroelectrical dams are in project. This is going to flood the ground where lots of resistance mouvements and comunities uses to live ...

4. March to the south.

Most of the US industrie is located in the eastern coast. But since Asia is supposed to face a great growth of international trade, the central american territory is a obstacle for shipping trantport. The Panama channel can only be crossed by 50 boats a day, therefore 6 new channels are planned. In the same areas it is planned to have maquiladoras tax and social right free zones for low cost industry . Now the central americal industrial wge is around 4 % of the north-american one.

5.Plan South.

Means locking the southern mexican border. This would create captive alimentary markets: the former paysants are already filling the subburbs wthout producing their own food. And also a cheap workers tank...

6. Plan new horizons

As Central America is often flooded by hurricanes and other "natural" catastrophies, the US army gently proposes to be there at full time and train national security forces to save human lifes... Several military schools are planned.

All these pieces form the complex the developpement machine that is supposed to be the PPP.

Other Plans like Plan Colombia are already ongoing with 1.3 billion $ of US military equipement to fight drugs (the ty said). The europeans are comitted in building reffugees camps...

After this presentation the indegenous delegaters of the "Cofan" people explained teir need of european support to face the constant herbicide spraying of their subsistance cultures by anti-cocaine arplanes that destroy corn and beans while the war between guerilla and paramilitary and military forces is ongoing on theirs traditional terriotories.

They insisted in spreading tthe idea that some areas of the planet shuld be protected of the amount of money that could inverted in.