May 2001

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

After the FTAA Summit -- A Report on Quebec

Below is a statement written by Leonard Peltier in support of the demonstrations against FTAA. Peltier is a Native American citizen of this country who has now been incarcerated for 25 years, following his highly controversial conviction for the 1975 murders of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Dear Brothers, Sisters, and Friends,

I know many of you are already familiar with the FTAA, NAFTA, the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank. I know many of you are working hard to expose what these organizations and agreements are all about and how they are taking over the world and violating human rights, labor rights, Indigenous rights, environmental protections, and sovereignty rights, in each and every place they set foot. Therefore, what I would like to address is the bigger picture--the real roots of the FTAA and ways which we can obstruct it.

Where did the FTAA get its start? Not in a conference room and not in an office. The FTAA is a continuation of the imperialism that began thousands of years ago in Europe with the domination of Indigenous Peoples whose self-subsisting land and way of life were taken away so that greedy feudalists could reign. Ever since, Indigenous Peoples have been forced into submission, if not obliteration, in the name of civilization and progress all over the globe. Here we are in the 21st century, and the world has far from benefited. I do not need to explain the Earth's devastation, the overwhelming poverty, and the wars that have resulted from practices that put profit before the very survival of Mother Earth and the human race.

Advocates of the FTAA would not dare refer to their policies as forms of colonization or feudalism because these practices are now widely scorned. Instead they will justify their actions in the name of "development" for the "poor" countries of Central and South America. Development? What the first peoples of the Americas need is recovery, not development. Recovery from the very same colonization, domination, and genocide that multi-national corporations want to perpetuate for their own gains today.

Now we must continue, not only to condemn the practices of these trade organizations and policies, but also to implement and support means of self-sufficiency both in our communities and abroad. We must support Indigenous movements like that of the Zapatistas and the Uwa who are fighting to maintain their land base and self-sufficient way of life. We must support the small farmers and farm workers who provide their communities with healthy foods to eat. We must create and support innovative projects--on Indian reservations, in inner cities, and in third world countries--that promote self-sufficiency and better living conditions.

But in doing this, we must unite beyond the boundaries of race, class, belief systems, and age that all too often divide us. If we do not unite, we will be defeated one by one, just as they destroyed the American Indian Movement who fought so hard for Native sovereignty, the Black Panthers, who developed much needed community based programs and struggled for self-determination, the movements in Central America that sought to implement schools, social programs, and land reform, and the unions who fought for humane working conditions. Most important, we must break down the barriers that divide us in our own backyards.

We need to develop a global culture that teaches us, as my ancestors did, to think carefully about the impact our actions and policies will have on Mother Earth, on each other, and on future generations before we act upon them. If we can do this, then surely we can win.

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,

Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, PO Box 583, Lawrence, KS 66044; 785-842-5774; www.freepeltier.org

Dispatches from the Field

It was quite an interesting set to... lots of folks who had thought themselves to be passive, once they saw the fence and the fact that pieces could be removed, came right up to the perimeter to help. The gas was heavy and if you did not have a gas mask you could not stand it for many minutes. But lots of folks--union people and local folks--came up in support. They would back away, wash out their eyes, and return. I think the people there at least got the idea of being shut out of some negotiations which would have an enormous impact on their lives.

At the water action that Starhawk organized we carried the Cochabamba declaration on water and passed it out liberally. People read it and were shocked, asked questions. We had dressed up in blue shower curtains with dolphins on them; we carried blue banners like water, and gave out bottles of water with messages on them. The procession walked a little, then circled and sang, then walked some more. In the end a thousand people were with us.

Vantage point, Quebec City, Blvd. René-Levesque. Photo © Jeff Manzelli, freemanz.com

We parted ways as some stayed in the quiet zone and some of us went to the perimeter. The police were acting hysterically at that point as the fence was being taken down. Interestingly enough, few went through the fence, making it clear the idea was to open it up, not to attack the delegates. Nonetheless, this did not impress the police and army. A couple of us thought we might calm the police by sittign down in their midst and holding up our hands in the peace sign and singing. So we sat and then they threw a tear gas cannister at us... so it went..

In my opinion we are moving effectively in creating a global movement of resistance to the neo-liberal agenda. The connections between us from continent to continent, from union to indigenous to peace movement to environment, to students (who are quite angry with their elders for allowing all this to happen) are growing. I am less disheartened than I was, and more committed than ever.

--Jean Grossholtz, Amherst, MA

In Quebec City, we drove downtown until we hit a detour: the security perimeter. The first sign of protest that really struck me was some graffiti on the wall's cement base: "Bienvenue a Berlin '89." And looming above it was the shining Banque de Montreal. Then we entered the park, the security fence here became the wall of an outdoor gallery with the women's web of solidarity woven to it. People were strolling quietly. It was warm and dark outside.

--Alison Booth, Youth Organizer, AFSC/NH

The corporate media operate an effective scam for discrediting social progressives. They glorify violent action by showing rock throwing and such, so that when they cover the next protest, the kids will "know" how to get on TV. Americans should not be deceived. Despite the burning of "Old Gory" by a small group at Quebec, none of my compatriots received anything but kindness. The people of Quebec were perfect hosts, sharing their food, providing lodging, and rushing to help when I was tear-gassed.

--Jeff Manzelli, Acton, MA

The warm welcome and gracious spirit of the Quebec people: a twenty year old young man taking part of his day off to show us around the city.

The clear and passionate voice of Columbian Manuel Rosental disclosing the ties of self interest of political figures, oil companies, and militaries that force indigeonous people and poor farmers from their lands to give oil companies free reign under cover of a "drug war" in Columbia.

Being part of the glorious march of 30,000 people from all parts of the American hemisphere and walking with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom along side a joyous group from Chile carrying a big banner portrait of Allende, and Quebec construction union members carrying signs "Batir ensemble des Ameriques Solidaires."

Amazment at the skill of translators in my first experience with simultaneous translation. (English, French, and Spanish, and sometimes whispered Portugese.)

Early Saturday evening, young people seated quietly in a circle at the gate on St. Jean Street, holding candles and singing, with rows of police standing above them.

A courageous old woman, a "mother of the disappeared‚" hands trembling as she rose to say "We are not poor, we are impoverished."

--Carol Dwyer, Concord, MA

One of the most amazing parts of the experience in Canada this weekend was the unusually good (not perfect) coverage by both the French and English networks of the Canadian Broadcasting System (CBC). The protest was covered as thoroughly as the FTAA summit, and the reasons for the protests were spelled out. We heard a call-in program, "Cross Country Checkup," on the English network of the CBC. The host asked every caller which had made their point the best, the proponents of the FTAA or the protesters. The almost unanimous response from all across Canada was against the FTAA version of "free trade" and in favor of more democratic, humane, progressive, and environmental approaches. That program is hopefully still available in RealAudio at:

<radio.cbc.ca/programs/checkup/archive/2001/archives01.html>

From both the local Quebec City reaction to the FTAA summit and that of the callers from across Canada, it is clear that a large proportion of Canadians sees through the type of "free trade" being promoted by the FTAA, and favor of a much more progressive version for human relations in the western hemisphere and the world. Our task now is to bring that vision back into this country.

--David Diamond, Dover, NH

At 10:30 on Saturday morning, we arrived at the large paved area where, the night before, 300 Raging Grannies had called for "People before Profit." Between two trees we hung our pale green banner, used in our weekly vigils in Plymouth, NH: "'True peace is not merely the absence of tension. It is the presence of justice.' --Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr."

We met three Spanish students from the University of Maryland. Babak said, "We want to stop the FTAA meeting, and to help others develop anti-corporation questions." Marina said, "Being here, we have to denounce police brutality. What we see here is slight compared to what it will be in some countries. Think what it will be like in a poor Western hemisphere country that finds its water is no longer publicly managed--for the people--but becomes a private investment opportunity run with a profit motive. What will police do to protesters who simply want their water?" Maria, voicing a position I also saw later on a sign held in a march, said "We demand a public review of this agreement."

We moved on, and spoke with three University of Toronto students who held a sign that said "34 nations, 33 suckers"; Clint, concerned for labor and environmental standards and aware of a kind of "blackmail" of lesser countries by the US, "because without US investment let in, they are dead," said "These are things that can't be discussed only in economic terms." Dimitri, a geography major, spoke of how in the 1800s some Europeans thought themselves better slavemasters, at least, than African slavemasters. "So today's sweatshops basically reason the same way, down in Honduras or Guatemala, that at least these people have a job. The morality is no better." This is thinking from the heart. Laud it.

We made our way downhill in the old city to the peaceful march planned by the People's Summit, and fell in with banner-carrying unions: there were steelworkers, auto workers, aluminum workers, confectioners, tobbaconists. We saw Oxfam and Greenpeace, and Global Exchange; this march was international. Signs read "The World is Not Merchandise!" "Democracy before Trade!" and "Don't Trade My Rights!"

--Lynn Chong, Rumney, NH

LETTER

Lawrence Reichard, Stockton, CA

Allan Kohrman may be right about John Woolman being careful with language (letters, April 2001), but if Kohrman thinks referring to globalization as slavery is hyperbole, he should try spending a few years working in a maquiladora in Ciudad Juarez for three dollars a day and going home under the watchful eye of the mansions on the hills surrounding Juarez and neighboring El Paso. And then he should try escaping to the north, only to be confronted by barbed wire fences, dogs, and vigilantes and INS agents with guns, night vision goggles and heat sensors. Perhaps he'll change his mind when he's been rounded up; verbally, psychologically and physically abused; put in a cold cell with no bed to sleep on; had his possessions stolen; and then shipped back to the plantation.

For billions of people, north and south, working for a globalized economy is not voluntary, it is compulsory, and this is the very definition of slavery.

It's easy enough for winners in the globalization racket to dismiss as "hyperbole" comparisons between the global economy and slavery. It maybe a somewhat more difficult task for ten year-old rugmakers in India.

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