ALCA
Across Colombia last week people took to the streets to demonstrate against the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA or ALCA in Spanish). The proposal originally conceived by Clinton with the dream of creating a free trade zone stretching from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego was launched at the December 1994 Summit of the Americas in Miami but as yet it has only been the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that has been implemented (Mexico, USA, Canada). The FTAA is essentially an expansion of the NAFTA to the South to envelope all other Latin American Countries with the exception of Cuba. According to Negotiating Groups working on the key elements of the agreement it will become the most largest and furthest reaching free trade agreement in the world affecting every area of life for the 800 million citizens of the Americas who´s combined GDP amounts to some US$11 trillion (US).
But the FTAA, despite is groundbreaking size, ehibits few new features from the either the NAFTA, the failed Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MIA), the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) or the Trade-Related aspects of Intelectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. Indeed, it presents the usual characteristics of multlateral trade agrements: designed in secret excluding civil society consultation and participation while including [500] corporate representatives with access to the negotiating documents; the aim of decreasing ‘barriers to trade’ through deregulation so as to facilitate the free movement of the factors of production: capital, goods and services with the standard exception of labour and the total exclusion of safeguards to protect workers, human rights, social security, health and environmental standards (indeed any such regulations would count as barriers to trade and thus be contradictory to it’s aims). Implications are typical: greater privatisation involving, particularly in the South, the transfer assets to multinational companies, continued militarisation to protect the assets of said multinationals (a secondary but serious effect), ease of movement of companies to find lowest wages, illegality of environmental and labour regulations including the inability and in fact illegality of a nation to ban GM Crops, reductions in state social spending and the shift of empasis on private investment combined with increased spending on policing to prevent social protest.
It would be unfair, however, to paint the FTAA as equal to the NAFTA, indeed this would do no credit to its creators who have skillfully selected some of the most effective measures from the multitude of aggreements mentioned above for achieving their aims and agregated them into the largest free trade agreement in the world. The FTAA stands out for two reasons: Firstly for its scope covering issues ranging from foreign direct invetsment investment; government procurement; market access (covering tariffs, non-tariff measures, customs procedures, rules of origin, standards and technical barriers to trade); agriculture; trade in services (including education, health, water, social services), intellectual property rights (including patenting of drugs, plants and seeds); subsidies, anti-dumping and countervailing duties; competition policy through to dispute settlement. Secondly for its inclusion and elaboration of the "investor-state" provisions of the NAFTA which give corporations the right to pursue their trade interests through legally binding trade tribunals enabling them to directly sue governments for alleged property rights or trade barrier violations. The elaboration exists in the combinination of this power with rights originally delineated by the GATS the combination of which will give unprecedented rights to transnational corporations to compete for and even challenge every publicly funded service provided by governments including health care, education, social security, culture and environmental protection. (see more).
As such, in defense of national sovereignty, national natural resources and human and environmental rights demonstrations took place across the nation on Tuesday. In Medellín, Bogotá and Cartegena demonstrators were caught in violent clashes with police. In Cartegena where the largest protest took place organizers had advised the authorities well in advance so as to make clear that it was to be a legitimate peaceful exercise of the right to protest. On the day of the march the National and Local Government immediately declared the actions to be illegal and dispatched a contingent of 2,000 police officers, reinforced by personnel from the Atlantic, Sucre and Bogotá commands, the Security Service DAS, the National Army and the Attorney General [Fiscalia]. The police aggression left more than 100 injured including Member of Congress Alexander Lopez, Senator Jorge Enrique Robledo and the Ex-Mayor of Cartagena, Bernardo Hoyos.
Here in Cali the march was this time peaceful and well attended. The student turnout was low but not for apathy as much as security given the recent clashes with police at the university and prevalence of police cameras filming demonstrators at large organized demos. On Wednesday the various student political groups in collaboration with the unions held a public meeting at the university. A member of the USO came to speak about the continuing strike and the need for solidarity particularly in light of the ALCA.
I’ve been pretty submerged really in making this website, it being one of those not quite realised what you’ve taken on until in full swing type jobs and then no other option but to persist, but its taking shape. After last Friday’s experience of attempting to play music other than metal and punk at the weekly gathering at the Uni and getting promptly kicked off this Friday I wandered over to the other side of the campus where the salsa party was in full swing. Its odd how the stark division in taste manifests itself cutting neatly down the line of course option. The metal and punk party is for the social scientists, the political activists or otherwise while the salsa party which takes place in the engineering faculty plaza is almost totally science students.
Saturday I took a break from the computer and went for a wander in the rain in the opposite direction to the park where I normally go. Following the sound of drums I ended up in La Loma de la Cruz an artesania market during the week and hangout of alternative (generally metalers) youth by night. Being neither the week nor the night it was hosting a cultural event run by a youth anti war group (Juventudes Resistiendo la Guerra). They’d set up a stage and soundsystem and interspersed between the social annoucments highlighting the necessity of peaceful resistance to war, the increased military spending and cutting of social services and the imposition of the ALC A, groups and individuals performed music, poetry and dance ranging from traditional coastal dancing, a potent female hip hop group to angsty young metalers. Here there was no division between punkers and salseros, breakdancers and metalers. The sunset was unusually colourful for this time of year and the atmosphere lively, friendly and united.
But the FTAA, despite is groundbreaking size, ehibits few new features from the either the NAFTA, the failed Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MIA), the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) or the Trade-Related aspects of Intelectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. Indeed, it presents the usual characteristics of multlateral trade agrements: designed in secret excluding civil society consultation and participation while including [500] corporate representatives with access to the negotiating documents; the aim of decreasing ‘barriers to trade’ through deregulation so as to facilitate the free movement of the factors of production: capital, goods and services with the standard exception of labour and the total exclusion of safeguards to protect workers, human rights, social security, health and environmental standards (indeed any such regulations would count as barriers to trade and thus be contradictory to it’s aims). Implications are typical: greater privatisation involving, particularly in the South, the transfer assets to multinational companies, continued militarisation to protect the assets of said multinationals (a secondary but serious effect), ease of movement of companies to find lowest wages, illegality of environmental and labour regulations including the inability and in fact illegality of a nation to ban GM Crops, reductions in state social spending and the shift of empasis on private investment combined with increased spending on policing to prevent social protest.
It would be unfair, however, to paint the FTAA as equal to the NAFTA, indeed this would do no credit to its creators who have skillfully selected some of the most effective measures from the multitude of aggreements mentioned above for achieving their aims and agregated them into the largest free trade agreement in the world. The FTAA stands out for two reasons: Firstly for its scope covering issues ranging from foreign direct invetsment investment; government procurement; market access (covering tariffs, non-tariff measures, customs procedures, rules of origin, standards and technical barriers to trade); agriculture; trade in services (including education, health, water, social services), intellectual property rights (including patenting of drugs, plants and seeds); subsidies, anti-dumping and countervailing duties; competition policy through to dispute settlement. Secondly for its inclusion and elaboration of the "investor-state" provisions of the NAFTA which give corporations the right to pursue their trade interests through legally binding trade tribunals enabling them to directly sue governments for alleged property rights or trade barrier violations. The elaboration exists in the combinination of this power with rights originally delineated by the GATS the combination of which will give unprecedented rights to transnational corporations to compete for and even challenge every publicly funded service provided by governments including health care, education, social security, culture and environmental protection. (see more).
As such, in defense of national sovereignty, national natural resources and human and environmental rights demonstrations took place across the nation on Tuesday. In Medellín, Bogotá and Cartegena demonstrators were caught in violent clashes with police. In Cartegena where the largest protest took place organizers had advised the authorities well in advance so as to make clear that it was to be a legitimate peaceful exercise of the right to protest. On the day of the march the National and Local Government immediately declared the actions to be illegal and dispatched a contingent of 2,000 police officers, reinforced by personnel from the Atlantic, Sucre and Bogotá commands, the Security Service DAS, the National Army and the Attorney General [Fiscalia]. The police aggression left more than 100 injured including Member of Congress Alexander Lopez, Senator Jorge Enrique Robledo and the Ex-Mayor of Cartagena, Bernardo Hoyos.
Here in Cali the march was this time peaceful and well attended. The student turnout was low but not for apathy as much as security given the recent clashes with police at the university and prevalence of police cameras filming demonstrators at large organized demos. On Wednesday the various student political groups in collaboration with the unions held a public meeting at the university. A member of the USO came to speak about the continuing strike and the need for solidarity particularly in light of the ALCA.
I’ve been pretty submerged really in making this website, it being one of those not quite realised what you’ve taken on until in full swing type jobs and then no other option but to persist, but its taking shape. After last Friday’s experience of attempting to play music other than metal and punk at the weekly gathering at the Uni and getting promptly kicked off this Friday I wandered over to the other side of the campus where the salsa party was in full swing. Its odd how the stark division in taste manifests itself cutting neatly down the line of course option. The metal and punk party is for the social scientists, the political activists or otherwise while the salsa party which takes place in the engineering faculty plaza is almost totally science students.
Saturday I took a break from the computer and went for a wander in the rain in the opposite direction to the park where I normally go. Following the sound of drums I ended up in La Loma de la Cruz an artesania market during the week and hangout of alternative (generally metalers) youth by night. Being neither the week nor the night it was hosting a cultural event run by a youth anti war group (Juventudes Resistiendo la Guerra). They’d set up a stage and soundsystem and interspersed between the social annoucments highlighting the necessity of peaceful resistance to war, the increased military spending and cutting of social services and the imposition of the ALC A, groups and individuals performed music, poetry and dance ranging from traditional coastal dancing, a potent female hip hop group to angsty young metalers. Here there was no division between punkers and salseros, breakdancers and metalers. The sunset was unusually colourful for this time of year and the atmosphere lively, friendly and united.
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