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The Green Party of the United States has endorsed this statement released by Public Citizen and endorsed by dozens of organizations concerned about trade agreements.

FTAA Call to Action

In November, trade ministers from around the Americas will gather in Miami for talks on the Free Trade Areas of the Americas. Join thousands of people in Miami, around the US and throughout the Americas on November 19-21st, 2003 to say:

• Yes to trade policies that reduce poverty;

• Yes to trade policies that create living wage jobs and protect workers' rights;

• Yes to democratic and transparent trade negotiations that include broad-based citizen consultation and participation;

• Yes to trade policies that protect environmental and public interest laws and regulations;

• Yes to trade policies that support family farmers and food security;

• Yes to trade policies that enable countries to invest in sustainable development policies; and

• No to the FTAA!

We call on people from throughout the Americas to join us in Miami to participate in a peaceful and permitted mobilization to demonstrate the growing opposition to the FTAA. The mobilization will include a parade, cultural events and educational activities that will show the strength of popular opposition to the FTAA. Leading up to the events in Miami, we will work together to mobilize a grassroots education and outreach campaign here in the United States to build awareness about the FTAA and to educate our elected officials and candidates in preparation for the 2004 elections.

As part of the outreach campaign, we will work together with our brothers and sisters from throughout the Americas to bring the vote on the FTAA to millions. People from throughout the Americas will cast their votes and deliver millions of ballots to the trade ministers when they meet in Miami to negotiate the FTAA. This campaign is part of a larger campaign that is being supported by a diverse coalition throughout the Americas that is united in their opposition to the FTAA.

Nine years ago, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was put into place, linking the economies of the United States, Canada and Mexico. Despite promises of job growth and an improvement in living conditions for the poor, NAFTA has resulted in increased poverty, stagnant or falling wages, an erosion of consumer protections, growing inequality and a decrease in good jobs. Violations of the fundamental rights of workers, including the right to organize and bargain collectively, have continued, unaffected by the weak labor side agreement. Environmental quality has deteriorated in the absence of enforceable regulations. Farmers and rural communities in Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. have been devastated by the low commodity price policies imposed by trade agreements and the increasing control of our food system by multinational agribusiness. The new investor rights protected by NAFTA have provided corporations the power to challenge democratic public interest laws in secret trade tribunals.

Despite this dismal record, the United States government is moving ahead with negotiations to create the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), an expanded NAFTA that would include all countries in Latin America, North America, and the Caribbean, except for Cuba. FTAA negotiations, which have been going on for several years without substantive input from civil society organizations, are scheduled to finish in 2005. If the vote comes up in the US Congress under fast track rules, no amendments can be made to the agreement and only an up or down vote will be allowed. The race to finish the FTAA and to enforce a flawed trade model will lead to further devastating results.

There is a better way! We support trade models that include responsibilities, not just rights, for corporations; protect workers' rights, health, safety, family farmers, women, consumers and the environment; and promote sustainable, equitable and democratic development. We join with peoples throughout the Americas in opposing the failed NAFTA model that is being proposed for the FTAA. We propose an alternative, fair, sustainable model that ensures the protection of people's livelihoods.

Join us in our campaign to defeat the FTAA! Come to Miami in November 19-21st, 2003 to make your voice heard!

• AFL-CIO

• Africa Action

• Agricultural Missions

• Alliance for Responsible Americans

• Alliance for Responsible Trade

• Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment

• Americans for Democratic Action

• American Friends Service Committee, Democratizing the Global Economy Project

• American Lands Alliance

• Association of Flight Attendants

• Campaign for Labor Rights

• Center of Concern/US Gender and Trade Network

• Citizens Trade Campaign

• Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras

• Communications Workers of America

• Development GAP

• Ecumenical Program on Central America and the Caribbean

• Environmental Health Coalition

• Florida Fair Trade Coalition

• Friends of the Earth-USA

• Global Exchange

• Grantmakers without Borders

• Green Party of the United States

• Institute for Policy Studies, Global Economy Project

• International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers

• International Brotherhood of Teamsters

• International Jesuit Network for Development

• Jobs with Justice

• Greater Kansas City Fair Trade Coalition

• Mexico Solidarity Network

• Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition

• NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

• OXFAM America

• Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty & Genocide

• Public Citizen

• Public Services International, Inter-Americas Region

• Resource Center of the Americas

• Sierra Club

• Sierra Student Coalition

• Sisters of the Holy Cross Congregation, Justice Committee

• South Floridians for Fair Trade and Global Justice

• Texas Fair Trade Coalition

• UNITE!

• Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami, Social Justice Committee

• Unite for Dignity

• United Auto Workers

• United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries

• United for a Fair Economy

• United Mine Workers of America

• United Steel Workers of America

• United Students Against Sweatshops

• Witness for Peace

See Public Citizen for more details.

> Back to Stop the FTAA in Miami (2003)