Action for Community and Ecology in the Regions of Central America GREEN PAPER 3: Freedoms That Are Abolished

Table of Contents Introduction 1) Trade and Investment: a little history 2) What is in the FTAA Agreement? Biotechnology and the FTAA Protecting Intellectual Property Free Flowing Capital What about Free Flow of People? Militarization and Globalization in the Americas Free Trade and Economic Developmen 3) Making the FTAA a Reality Corporate Globalization in the Americas Dry Canal Megaprojects and the FTAA Dry Canal Megaprojects and the FTAA 4) The FTAA and the Future of the Hemisphere Protecting Corporate Profits FTAA Attacks the Forests 5) Is THIS What Democracy Looks Like? The FTAA's Threat to Democracy North American First Nations: Going Corporate? Free Trade and the Proliferation of Sweatshops 6)THIS is What Democracy Looks Like Free Trade and the Proliferation of Sweatshops 7) What You Can Do Sources Acronym List download this document (488k). ACERCA

What You Can Do 1) Call the U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick at (888) 473-USTR and tell him that he does not have permission from Congress or the citizens of the United States to negotiate the FTAA and that you would like the negotiations halted immediately, now and forever. Also call the negotiator assigned to the FTAA at (202) 395-6135. (Peter Allgeyer held this position under the Clinton Administration and a new negotiator may be assigned under Bush) . 2) Educate yourself and your community about the FTAA. Hold a teach-in in your area. Publicize it well with posters, press releases, and public service announcements. Talk to people on the streets and people from other sectors of society that you do not normally speak with and engage them in conversation about the FTAA. ACERCA has put together an action packet for community groups to organize against the FTAA. The packet includes a sample letter to the editor, a sample letter to Congress, a two-sided factsheet, a sample flyer and poster, a sample press release, public service announcements that can be used on community and college radio stations, a list of soundbytes that can be used when interviewed by the media, a list of information sources for further research, and contact information of organizations working against the FTAA from throughout the hemisphere. 3) Start talking to and educating your senators and representatives and tell them not to pass Fast Track or the FTAA. Most people in Congress have no idea about the actual effects of the FTAA and need a good educational experience. The Congress is ultimately responsible for the passage of the FTAA and this is good opportunity to let them know that people are not going to sit still while businessmen and bureaucrats sign our rights away. 4) Go to Quebec City for April 20-22 to protest the Summit of the Americas, where the FTAA will be on the agenda. Also organize demonstrations and teach-ins in your own community for the International Day of Action, so that people who can not travel to Quebec will have an opportunity to participate and be educated. This is an excellent opportunity to get the local mainstream media involved, which will inform many people about the FTAA. 5) Most importantly, construct alternatives to free trade and corporate control in your communities. Some suggestions are community supported agriculture, city or community gardens to feed low income folk, holding town or district meetings to discuss issues that are important to your neighborhood, creating alternative local currencies, starting independent media facilities in your area, etc.