1/ Objectives – Defeat the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) in all its incarnations: Complete, Lite or a la Carte, as well as free trade deals negotiated at a bilateral or regional level – Strengthen the No-FTAA campaign and the links with the popular struggles in our countries as we enter this critical phase – Stop the advancing process of militarization in the Americas and expose its connections to the FTAA – Contribute to the world wide movement in opposition to war, debt and free trade wherever they are to be found – Deepen the process of building an alternative integration model for the hemisphere – Confront transnational corporations and the vested interests behind their promotion of free trade agreements, processes of privatization and their appropriation of the natural resources 2/ Strategies and Action Proposals A) Mobilization and Networking – Strengthen the building of movements, committees, national unitary and horizontal platforms that are rooted in the social organizations – Broaden the alliance with other sectors and social actors that have not been involved in the campaign to date, including among others medium size industrial and agricultural producers, mayors – Promote and strengthen sub-regional networks connecting a diversity of actors (social movements, parliamentarians, lawyers, academics) for the purpose of coordinating actions and strategies to oppose the FTAA and all other free trade treaties – Encourage the creation of a network of parliamentarians and another for lawyers to fight the FTAA – Link the No-FTAA Campaign to popular movement demands: in opposition to privatizations and the neo-liberal attack on public and social services, on natural resources and other strategic sectors of national economies; in defence of food security and sovereignty, and of the environment; in support of the rights of women, people with a different sexual orientation, campesinos, black populations, indigenous people, youth and students, older people, workers – Involve the most active members of the No-FTAA Campaign in promoting the participation of their counterparts from other countries in the Campaign – Empower, with the support of the continental network, mass actions and mobilizations in each country or sub region while ensuring the presence of international teams and of personalities involved with our struggle – Strengthen the level of mobilization and of significant actions to be taken around the most significant dates and agendas related to both the meetings of multilateral organizations and to the free trade negotiating schedules. Political initiatives and rally plans to be held at other times as well B) Campaigns and specific struggles – Fight against free trade bilaterals and sub-regionals (CAFTA, Andean nations-USA, European Union and Latin America, and others) – Carry out rallies and campaigns against the transnationals that benefit most from privatization, and control over resource extraction, biodiversity, communications and other strategic sectors – Support social movement campaigns that oppose the inclusion of cultural industries, education, public services, water and the like, in commercial accords – Develop a strategy to work with parliaments and congresses at national and regional levels. Also implement strategies involving the legal system for the purpose of defending the sovereignty and constitutional rights of our countries and peoples – Link up with and contribute to international campaigns and movements opposing the WTO and free trade, debt repayment, multilateral financial institutions (IMF, World Bank, IDB), war and militarization in all their different scenarios – Promote the Campaign for the Demilitarization of the Americas (CADA) and add our support to specific struggles opposing: Plan Colombia, the establishment of military bases, the Andean Initiative, Plan Puebla-Panama, the School of the Americas, the School for Law Enforcement (ILEA in C.R.), and the planned extension of the US Missile Shield to involve Canada – Create a permanent vigilance committee able to respond quickly to any repressive action/coup taken against no-FTAA activists or leadership C) Education, Information and Communication 1. Sensitize and educate our populations and prioritize the training of our activists as part of an ongoing responsibility - Carry out large scale No-FTAA popular education campaigns based on the key national campaign objectives as well as on making the connections between the FTAA, the WTO, debt and militarization - Produce popular education and training materials on the previously mentioned themes and share these materials with all the other campaigns (among other options, materials can be posted on the Campaign web site www.movimientos.org/noalca ) - Fight to improve health and education levels in consonance with the no-FTAA struggle 2. Strengthen at all levels the mechanisms for information sharing, communications and getting the message out - Increase the internal flow of campaign information leading to greater cohesion among member organizations and improved campaign results - Share the analysis, audio-visual materials and other cultural products coming out of each country. The Campaign web site is the point of reference for these to be lodged - Get the No-FTAA campaign message and related materials out to allied sectors. Also publicize any of their anti FTAA pronouncements - Build links with people in communications sector who support or sympathize with the Campaign, so that they may contribute journalism in accessible language. Make a better use of visual materials and foment cultural creativity (story telling, music, No-FTAA concerts, theatre, etc.) - Increase the profile of the Continental Campaign by mentioning it in public pronouncements, communiqués and other media work in order to establish the C.C. as the reference point for anti FTAA work. - Carry out work at a hemispheric level to reach media where there are openings for our message. Promote the creation of a hemispheric network of communications media that oppose the FTAA - Strengthen the presence of the No-FTAA Campaign positions and information at the national mass-media level D) Monitoring and action related to keeping a watch on the official negotiating process – Deepen our monitoring and analysis strategy re: the FTAA negotiations and bilateral and sub-regional talks, as well as our ability to get the message out in a broad and comprehensible way – Take advantage of the internal contradictions evident in the official negotiations to stop the FTAA both at a national and hemispheric level – Demand transparency, publicity concerning and information on the negotiating processes E) Building alternatives – Move forward in our efforts to build alternatives to the free trade model and the neo-liberal agenda, and involve popular sector participation in expressing these alternatives in plain language – Promote an interchange between our debates around alternatives and certain governmental initiatives in the region (ALBA, MERCOSUR, CAN) and build in to the Americas Social Forum (Quito) a special opportunity to do this reflection F) Other specific actions suggested in the closing plenary – Any call for a plebiscite, referendum or popular consultation should happen before any treaty is signed, and besides being a cohesive factor, such a call should ensure social organizations have access to the mass media. These tools have to be understood as a way to mobilize, inform and carry out popular education work. However they should not be seen as a method to either ratify or rectify the treaty – Show solidarity for other people and their struggles whether directed at government or more widely. As an example, consider including words of solidarity with Cuba in each no-FTAA event. – Send letters to the government of Bolivia demanding freedom for Francisco Cortez who is falsely accused as being a drug trafficker 3/ Key elements in the continental coordination of the No-FTAA Campaign Continental Coordination - Continuing on from the results coming out of the II World Social Forum held in January 2002, the Continental Campaign Coordination will consist of two representatives of movements, committees or platforms per country, and two per continental or regional network Continental Secretariat - The Continental Secretariat will maintain its headquarters in Brazil and continue to be a joint effort involving the Secretariats of the Hemispheric Social Alliance (H.S.A.) and of the Brazilian No-FTAA Campaign. Contact: secr- cont@uol.com.br Tel # 55-11-2108-9129 Fax # 55-11-3272-9601. Rua Caetano Pinto, 757 CEP 03041-000, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Other coordination tasks - Strengthen and/or create sub-regional co-ordinations (CAFTA, CAN, MERCUSUR), and with support from the Continental Coordination elaborate specific action plans to be incorporated in the overall strategy - Form a team focused on work with parliamentarians - Form a working group to facilitate greater participation by Caribbean nations - Promote and consolidate the links between the Continental Campaign, the national chapters and sub-regional co- ordinations - Implement policies that allow for dialogue and a greater coming together with the different initiatives and popular sector points of convergence in our continent (Continental Campaign against the FTAA, H.S.A., Americas Social Forum, Bolivariano Congress, Social Movement Network and World March of Women) - Form a group to facilitate the discussion on formulating alternatives - Empower the Secretariat to make the necessary changes to this Action Plan (in discussions with the Continental Coordination) following any alterations in the directions taken by the FTAA talks following the The Negotiating Committee (TNC) meeting(s) in Puebla Continuing in our firm resolve to oppose the FTAA and with the objective of evaluating and constructing our strategy in the next phase, we will be getting together in Havana between the 27th and 30th of April 2005 for the IV Hemispheric Meeting of the Struggle against the FTAA. 4/ Continental mobilizing The Continental Coordination agreed on the priority events listed below around which No-FTAA forces would organize and/or participate in. They are: - March 20, 2004 International day of protest against war and the occupation of Iraq which in the case of Latin America also means opposing: Plan Colombia, the Andean Initiative, Plan Puebla Panama, and the stopping and closing of U.S. military bases with a particular focus on ending the occupation of Guantanamo. - April 24, 2004 International mobilization against the Multilateral Financial Institutions (World Bank, IMF) and against Foreign Debt, on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the Bretton Woods institutions. - Last half of 2004 (to be scheduled) Popular opposition actions timed to begin on the first day of the Brazil FTAA Ministerial, with a variety of protest actions to be held in major cities - August 29, 2004 Continental day of protest actions to stand in solidarity with U.S. sisters and brothers who will be rallying in New York on the occasion of the Republican Convention to demonstrate strong opposition to the reelection of George W. Bush. The national-level No-FTAA movements, committees and platforms will develop their own tactics and campaign calls in order to ensure broad participation from the population 5/ Other key dates We wish to highlight other key mobilizing dates traditionally observed by sectors, movements and networks that participate in the No-FTAA campaign and encourage your presence on those days: - March 8, International Women's Day - March 20, Rallies in Central America and USA against CAFTA - April 17, International Day of Campesino Struggle - May 1, International Workers Day - July 25-30, Americas Social Forum, Quito - October 12 Cry of the Excluded/International Indigenous People's Day The struggle against CAFTA Given the strategic significance of the Free Trade Treaty between Central America and the USA (CAFTA) as being the effective implementation of the FTAA in Central America, the Continental Campaign considers the defeat of CAFTA to be fundamental to the overall Campaign objectives and call on members to support the actions being proposed by the Central American Regional Coordination and the US. 1- Generate tools/materials for the work - Declarations from all those organizations opposing CAFTA - Development of a document with a critical analysis of the CAFTA text and outlining the impact that it will have 2- Carry out communication and popular education actions - Publicize the CAFTA text and the critical análisis - Publish informative materials that can be used to support popular mobilization and pressure on the respective Congresses 3- Mobilizing to put pressure on the Congresses - Visits by Central Americans to the US Congress and viceversa - Coordinated rallies to be held on March 20 and May 1, as established by the No-FTAA Continental Campaign plans incorporating the fight against CAFTA * English translation of the Continental Campaign's Action Plan done by Common Frontiers-Canada (Feb. 2004).