|
|
|
State News Release |
Home | Press | State Press |
| Wisconsin Green Party Members go to Florida to Fight Against FTAA, and for Fair Trade. |
|
WISCONSIN GREEN PARTY Wisconsin Greens Brian Lutenegger, Chris Kratochwill, and Ben Manski are joining other Wisconsin Greens in Florida to fight against the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The FTAA is the proposed expansion of the North American Free Trade Agreement to every country in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, except Cuba. It would dramatically impact over 800 million people, challenging national sovereignty and devastating local economies, cultures, and natural environments. NAFTA's advocates promised more jobs in the U.S., but instead more than 700,000 U.S. jobs were lost. FTAA's impact will be even greater. "I came to Miami to represent the voices that are underrepresented in the major media, and to draw attention to the atrocities committed under the guise of free trade, such as environmental racism, exploitation of minority workers, and the rapid decline in jobs in America, " said Chris Kratochwill, Corresponding Secretary of the Wisconsin Green Party. "My main focus is to make sure that democracy works. Right now it is failing to work. If the FreeTrade Area of the Americas is adopted, it will only degrade the environment and work to exploit more and more people by impeding laws and regulations that protect America and Americans. We are working on issues that the Republicans and Democrats have failed to address." "It's very important that Wisconsin Greens are here in Miami with Greens from scores of other states and from nations across the Americas," said Ben Manski, Co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. "Greens across the hemisphere are United in defiance to the FTAA, demanding trade policies that put family farmers, working people, and the interests of our children first, and which ensure democracy, not corporate rule." Green parties across the Americas are committed to Fair Trade, and our numbers are growing, as more citizens vote Green in local, state, and national elections, sending Greens to government in Mexico, Brasil, Colombia, Peru, Canada -- and the United States. In U.S. cities as diverse as San Francisco, Santa Monica, Madison, New Haven, Providence, and others, Green elected officials work closely with trade unions, the peace movement, and fair trade activists. They have sponsored Fair Trade purchasing policies, sister city arrangements, and public events. On Tuesday, Manski and Kratochwill took part in a march organized by Root Cause, a grassroots organization formed from 3 Florida workers' organizations (http://therootcause.org/press/index.shtml ). The purpose of the march is to call for "fair trade that respects human rights, not free trade that exploits human beings." Lutenegger will join them and other Greens in Miami Wednesday night. Greens plan to stay in Miami through Saturday. "I think that it is very important for people to be able to freely protest these trade policies which will do nothing but make the rich richer, the poor poorer, and further damage the environment and economies of developing nations, said Brian Lutenegger, cospokesperson of Madison's Four Lakes Green Party. "The Green Party is the electoral arm of this growing movement to stop these abusive trade policies."The Green Party of the United States passed a resolution on the FTAA earlier this week. The Wisconsin Green Party voted for this resolution. (Read the Resolution form the Green Party of the United States.) Manski and Kratochwill can be reached in Miami at: The Wisconsin Green Party is an affiliate of the
Green Party of the United States, and stands on the four pillars of
Ecological Wisdom, Nonviolence, Social & Economic Justice, and
Grassroots Democracy. The party has 11 local chapters throughout
Wisconsin. |
|
State News Release |
Home | Press | State Press |
