 |
|
Greens Gather in Miami to Protest FTAA Summit, November 17-21. |
|
Monday, November 10, 2003 Contacts: Green Party leaders will hold a press conference on Wednesday, November 19, 5:30 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel Miami. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Activists and leaders of the Green Party of the United States will gather in Miami, Florida to protest at the meeting of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) from Monday, November 17 through Friday, November 21. Greens will hold a press conference on Wednesday, November 19, 5:30 p.m. in the Market Room, at the Radisson Hotel Miami, 1601 Biscayne Boulevard. The press conference will feature Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange, Marta Benavides from El Salvador, Green Party co-chair Ben Manski, Green International Committee co-chair Annie Goeke, other national and international Greens, and leaders from the Florida and Miami-Dade Green parties. At the press conference, Green leaders will announce an international Green Party campaign in the Americas to promote fair trade and to dismantle the corporate-sponsored "free trade" area. Global Greens will conduct a workshop on the Global Greens Charter and International Politics, which will also take place on November 19, at 3 pm in the Doubletree Key Biscayne Room (across the street from the Radisson). Greens have strongly criticized international trade authorities like the FTAA, accusing them of imposing policies that boost corporate profits and power while creating poverty, interfering with democratic sovereignty, and gutting environmental, labor, and human rights protections. While most Republicans and Democrats continue to support the FTAA, the Green Party and its candidates for public office have made opposition to antidemocratic trade authorities a centerpiece of the national Green platform. Greens have challenged U.S. officials and trade ministers from around the Americas to adopt trade policies that reduce poverty, create living wage jobs, and secure workers' and family farmers's rights, food security, and environmental and public interest protections. "We call for public and democratically negotiated fair trade agreements designed to reduce poverty, create high-wage jobs with workplace rights, respect environmental laws, protect food security, and promote sustainable development," said Tony Affigne, co-chair of the Green Party's International Committee. "Democrats and Republicans alike would tolerate more corporate globalization, stripping citizens everywhere of their rights, destroying environments, and privatizing public services." The Green Party of the United States has signed on to the 'FTAA Call to Action' published by Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch and endorsed by dozens of organizations concerned about trade agreements. "Greens demand movement towards global democracy, not global corporate rule," said Ben Manski, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States, who will be on hand and speaking at the anti-FTAA protests. "What's at stake here is the security of millions of farmers and working people, here in the U.S.A. and abroad." MORE INFORMATION search:
gbl, ecpol, evpol |