Tom Hansen of ART, Marceline White of Women's EDGE, Macrena Cardenas of Mexico Solidarity Network, S'ra Desantis of ACERCA, David Kane of Mary Knoll, Ron Morrisette of the National Family Farm Coalition, and Jonathan Kissam from UE
Experts from Mexico, Brazil and the United States discuss the impact of "free trade" policies in their countries. Sponsored by the Alliance for Responsible Trade.
Producer: Justin Francese Uploaded by: Free Radio Burlington
EMAIL ANNOUNCEMENT OF THIS EVENT:
FTAA Public Hearings in Burlington
An opportunity to interface with people from all over the Western Hemisphere free trade policy impacts the VT community and communities throughout the Americas.
Monday March 25, 2002 7 - 9:30 pm 301 Williams Hall University of Vermont, Burlington
Sponsored by the Alliance for Responsible Trade
The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is a proposed trade agreement that would extend the disaster of NAFTA to the entire hemisphere. The FTAA would expand corporate rights at the expense of human rights. The agreement will address traditional trade issues, like tariffs, but will also extend the rights of trans-national corporations in the areas of intellectual property rights and the ability of private corporations to sue governments. The FTAA will make it more difficult for nations to establish labor and environmental protections, and could lead to privatization of important public services like education, water, transportation and health care.
The FTAA represents the next potential step in a "constitutional" process in which corporations win broad new rights while the majority of working people are threatened with less democracy, less sovereignty and lower living standards. The FTAA could mark the culmination of a "free trade" agenda begun in the 1980s that has reduced the living standards of the majority of people in this hemisphere while improving the corporate bottom line. The FTAA will impact the lives of millions of people for generations to come, yet very little is known about this massive new trade agreement.
The Alliance for Responsible Trade is sponsoring a series of public hearings on the FTAA. Experts from Mexico, Brazil and the United States will discuss the impact of "free trade" policies in their countries. Invited guests include:
Marceline White - Director of the Global Trade Program at Women's EDGE, will discuss the impact of free trade policies on women. She will also speak about basic human development rights such as cultural preservation, health care, and education.
David Kane, a Maryknoll lay missioner from Brazil who is working with the Brazilian Jubilee campaign to initiate a huge plebiscite in Brazil on the FTAA next year, will discuss popular opposition to the FTAA.
Tom Hansen - Director of the Mexico Solidarity Network, will give a global context on Free Trade, discuss the impact of trade policies in the US and the development of grassroots opposition.
Jonathan Kissam - United Electrical Workers Local 221, will speak about free trade, specifically NAFTA, and how it has affected Vermont workers.
S'ra DeSantis - ACERCA (Action for the Community and Ecology in the Regions of Central America) will discuss the impacts NAFTA has had on the environment and the inherent nature of environmental racism in free trade agreements.
Ron Morrisette- Rural Vermont and the National Family Farm Coalition will look at how free trade threatens VT agriculture and family farms.
After the speakers, community members will have the opportunity to tell their stories of how free trade and corporate power has affected their lives. We encourage everyone to participate
Sponsors: Alliance for Responsible Trade, ACERCA (Action for the Community andEcology in the Regions of Central America), ASEJ (Action for Social and Ecological Justice), VT Mobilization for Global Justice, VT Workers Center, UE Local 221, Rural VT, National Family Farm Coalition, SPARC, and New England Witness for Peace.
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