Alliance for Responsible Trade

 At the upcoming Summit of the Americas, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate how the change you promise can translate into new policies towards the hemisphere. The history of relations between the United States and Latin America is a painful one, based on domination and military intervention to assure compliance with U.S. agendas. 

 

Progressive governments have been democratically elected in many Latin American countries. These governments are promoting agendas that meet the needs of their impoverished majorities. The prevailing economic model has not worked for most people in Latin American or the earth. For this reason, many governments, spurred by their social movements, are implementing dramatic new policies. These policies reverse the concentration of resources so that the wealth of their countries is not controlled by a few, or stolen by transnational companies, but is used to serve the common good. Four countries in Latin America have made significant improvement between 2002 and 2007 in narrowing the gap between people at extreme ends of the income spectrum; Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil and Nicaragua.

 

The upcoming Summit of the Americas will offer an opportunity for you to set a new course in U.S. relations with the hemisphere. The people of Latin America need the same things you have said people in the United States need: good jobs, education, healthcare, food, and a decent home. The United States must respect each country’s autonomy and not interfere in its sovereign right to seek the well-being of its people. New relations between the United States and the rest of the continent must be based on total respect for sovereignty, mutuality, and cooperation without conditions or impositions.   

 

­For the Summit of the Americas the people of the continent are not hoping for ‘generous offers’ from your government; they hope for horizontal relations between equals, so that together we can find solutions to the current crisis which was generated by the ambitions of a few. The people of Latin America should not be made to pay for a crisis they have not created.

 To confront the global crisis and reestablish relations between the United States and the rest of the hemisphere, we need agreement on the following points:

 

Debt: In this moment of economic crisis, your own Administration has thrown away the rule book, articulating the need for unprecedented spending to create jobs and stimulate the economy with additional spending on education, health care, and greening the economy. Latin American countries have also been severely impacted by the crisis, yet they have no stimulus and fewer policy options available. Many countries are crippled with massive external debt which must be paid before responding to the desperate needs of their people.

 

The situation demands more radical debt cancellation programs, and elimination of the conditionalities imposed by International Financial Institutions which severely limit the ability of Latin American countries to respond to the crisis. We welcome your initiatives to make additional resources available, but these are only viable if they come without conditionalities which have forced privatization of public resources, leading to the further impoverishment of people in these countries. You must accept the re-nationalization of resources and services when governments determine that they belong in the public domain.

 

Militarization:  We ask the United States to cooperate with efforts to de-militarize the countries of the hemisphere. Money spent on weapons or the military is money which is not available for food, education or health care. Latin American democracies and citizens have been brutalized by military solutions to social problems and troops trained in torture at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, previously known as the School of the Americas. Their police and military should not be trained in U.S. schools to oppress and torture. It is time to shutter these programs. The United States must also recall the Fourth Fleet from the hemisphere and close our military bases in the region.

 

Increased funding for the Merida Initiative and Plan Colombia will only increase violence and human suffering. Funds should be spent on meeting basic human needs. It is time for a new, non-military approach to solving drug problems. It is also time for the United States to cease manufacturing and exporting weapons which only increase levels of violence in all of our countries.   At the same time the anti-democratic, corporate-driven Security and Prosperity Partnership, which has resulted in intensified military intervention in Mexico and Canada, must be halted, and not extended to the rest of the hemisphere, given its failure to resolve the problems of these countries.

 

Democracy building: It is clear that countries in Latin America are engaged in profound democratic change.  The U.S. role has often been to undermine these governments because they don’t defend the interests of our corporations.  U.S. funds supplied through the National Endowment for Democracy and similar institutions are routinely used to subvert popular governments, promote instability, political turmoil, and violence.  Ironically, these NED ‘democracy building’ programs are often used to undermine democracy. These institutions need to be dismantled and funds redirected to governments for use in meeting vital human needs. USAID programs which promote similar objectives must also be eliminated.

 

Trade:  We believe that trade between our countries can, under proper conditions, bring mutual benefits. However, there are fundamental flaws in the current model which was designed exclusively to promote the interests of corporations rather than people. A comprehensive re-visiting of existing agreements must be the first step, and movement on all pending FTAs must be postponed. Our concerns are articulated in the comprehensive Alternatives for the Americas  document, written by members of the Hemispheric Social Alliance. 

 

Two areas which demand urgent rethinking are investment and agriculture. Investment provisions must focus on empowering governments to raise standards of living. As currently written, investment provisions do nearly the opposite and function as a straitjacket, limiting governments’ abilities to control transnational corporations and capital. Current rules inhibit governments from protecting food security and sovereignty. The economic crisis brings into serious question the benefits that were promised under the ‘Free Trade’ model. 

 

We propose three immediate actions you could take before the Summit begins, which could signal a change of spirit. These actions would demonstrate that you recognize that the world has changed in dramatic ways, and that a new relationship with the hemisphere is imperative. They are:

 

1^st- Normalize relations with Cuba and end the economic blockade: Recognize that the world has changed in the last 50 years; an embargo on Cuba serves no purpose. To jump start the new relationship, we challenge you to invite Cuban President Raul Castro to attend the Summit with full status.

 

2^nd- Normalize relations with Bolivia: The expulsion of Ambassador Goldberg was a consequence of unacceptable U.S. intervention. We challenge you to normalize diplomatic relations with Bolivia and immediately restore ATPDEA preferences which were revoked as a form of revenge by the Bush Administration and against the will of the U.S. Congress. 

 

3^rd- Normalize relations with Venezuela: The United States should not penalize President Chavez, whose rule has been legitimized by more electoral processes than any other leader in the hemisphere. We insist that you extend your hand to the people of Venezuela, who have a profound connection to the United States. Venezuela is also one of our most important trading partners in the hemisphere. Secretary Clinton needs to stop the ‘war of words’ with Mr. Chavez. 

These actions would send strong signals of good will, and demonstrate a concrete commitment to the change so urgently needed at this moment and for the future.

 

Sincerely,

 

Alliance for Responsible Trade, Tom Loudon

Across the Americas, Ruth Goring
Alliance for Democracy, Ruth Caplan
Alliance for Global Justice, Chuck Kaufman
Antena de Migraciones en Nueva York, John Burstein
Arlington-Teosinte Sister City Project, Beth Soltzberg
ASOCOL, Raul Fernandez Fernandez
ASOCOL /NY chapter, carlos salamanca
Bend-Condega Friendship Project, Tim Jeffries
Boise Sustainable Community, Kevin M Bayhouse
Call To Action, sally dolan
Campaign for Labor Rights, James Jordan
Caribbean American Children Foundation, Alberto Nelson Jones
Chiapas Support Committee, Mary Ann Tenuto
CIP Americas Program, Laura Carlsen
CODEPINK, Medea Benjamin
Colombia Action/CT, Stephen V. Kobasa
Colombia Support Network, Cross Border Network for Justice and Solidarity, David Davis
Colombia Vive, Ana Zambrano
Columban Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office, Amy Echeverria

Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, Burke Stansbury
Community Of The Christian Spirit, Joseph Sannino
Congregation Justice Committee Sisters of the Holy Cross, CSC Sisters
Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Larry Birns
CUSSP, Cuba-US Sustainability Project, rachel Bruhnke
Democratic Socialists of America, Frank Llewellyn
Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance, Cathey DeSantis
Durocher Volunteer Program, Kay Burton

Ecumenical Committee of English Speaking Church Personnel in Nicaragua, Nan McCurdy, President
Family Farm Defenders, John Peck
Forging Alliances South and North/Serapaz, Philip McManus
Friends of Brad Will, friendsofbradwill.org,
Global Exchange, Ted Lewis
GoProSe, Elliot Kriegsman
Grassroots Global Justice , Cindy Wiesner
Grassroots Global Justice work group on Globalization and migration, Laurie & Dave King
Grassroots International, NIkhil Aziz
Holy Cross International Justice Office, Mary Turgi
Just Foreign Policy, Robert Naiman
Justice and Witness Ministries UCC, Wallace Ryan Kuroiwa
La Alianza Martiana, Jose M. Estevez Berriz
LEPOCO Peace Center, Nancy Tate
Madison Arcatao Sisiter City Project, Joan Laurion  Marc Rosenthal
Marin Interfaith Taskforce on the Americas, Lucienne O'Keefe
Maryknoll office for Global Concerns, Dave Kane
Medical Mission Sisters, Sector North America, Rosemary Ryan MMS
Mingas-FTA Network, North America, Daniel Whitesell
MITF, bettie Mansen
N.E.A.-I.E.A., Dr. Arthur Donart
National Center for U.S. - El Salvador Sister Cities, Emily Carpenter
national lawyers guild task force on the americas, susan scott
New Ways Ministry, Francis DeBernardo
Nicaragua Network, Kathy Hoyt
Nonviolence International, Andrés Thomas Conteris
North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA), Teo Ballve
Office of the Americas, Blase Bonpane, Ph.d.
Omega, Joseph I Hassan
Parish Twinning Program of the Americas, Joe Zelenka   Theresa Patterson
PeaceWorks, Jim Burchell
Pi in the Sky Ranch, Yaney MacIver
Pikes Peak Justice & Peace, Thomas Schell
Polo Democratico Alternativo-NY Chapter, carlos salamanca
Progressive Christians Uniting, Pamela Brubaker
Quixote Center
Rockland Sister Cities Project, Cleta Ciulla
School of the Americas Watch, Fr. Roy Bourgeois
St. Joseph Worker Foundation, Jane Wildeman
St. Louis Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America , Marilyn Lorenz
Take Action And Profit, Barry Dufresne
Task Force on the Americas, Caroline Dutton
United Profesors of Marin, Carol I. Moeller Costa
USJCRJ, Ronald Fujiyoshi
WAND, Jeanne S Whitesell
WarTimes/Tiempo de Guerras, Janet A Adams
Whetstone Branch Living School, Jim Bier
Witness for Peace, Ben Beachy
World Wide Village Inc., Randy Mortensen

Organizations outside of the U.S.:
Comercializadoras De Productores Del Campo (Anec - México)
La campaña Comercio con justicia mis derechos no se negocian de Colombia, Marta Londoño
Red Colombiana de Accion frente al Libre Comercio
Réseau Québécois sur l'Intégration continentale (RQIC), Pierre-Yves Serinet

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Emily Achtenberg
Tom Alden
Edward Alten
David Amdur
Glen Anderson
Elmer Armstrong
Albert Arroyo
Lynn Atkinson
Evelyne Axelrod
Patrick Bader
Guy Baehr
Greg Banazak
Frances E Barber
Andrew Bartlett
David Bayer
Nancy Bennett
Erica Bettwy
Lynn Biddle
Iliana Blay
John Bliss
Mary Bodde, SC
Judith Bohler
Hilda Bolden
Elaine Booth
Jean Braun
John Bresette
Barbara Broderick
Rck Brown
Juan Buono-Alcaraz
Benjamin Burch
Kate Augusta Burke
Martha W Bushnell
Gloria Callaci
Maria Castellanos
Marcel Charland
Ron Chew
Phoury Chhun
Jeanne Choquehuanca
Yvonne Claudius
Bruce C Cohen
Steve Cohen
Jeffrey Colledge
Tereza Coraggio
David & Barbara Corcoran
Jerry Cornwell
Jean Cossey
Virginia Cotter
Erin Cox
Alfred Dabrowski
Ron & Sigrid Dale
Mary Dame
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Elizabeth Davies
Abiosseh Davis
Paula Kathleen Dawson
Susanna de Falla
Joe de la Cova
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Joseph DeRaymond
Raymond DeSutter
Caroline Donnellan
Arthur Dorland
Joseph W DuRocher
John Elder
Hermann Engelhardt
KIt Everts
KIt Everts
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Anne Fischel
Rita Fisher
Helen Fitzgerald
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Erin Floyd
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Anne Marie Gardiner
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Penn Garvin
James Gebhard
James Gleckler
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Carlos Gonzalez
Marita Green
Sue Greene
Rachel Greenwood
Mary Gregory
Maura Gregory
Carol Griesemerc
Laurie Griffith
Richard Grossman
Fritz Gutwein
George Hagans
Lillian Hall
Dr. Maura Hanrahan
Sophia Hansen-Day
Roger Harris
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Ruth Hunt, SC
Ruth Hunter
Justin Hurtt
John & Roberta Hydar
Joe Jaycox
Amy Jobin
Judith Kaluzny
Elizabeth  Karan
Diane Kavanaugh-Black
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Ed Kelly
Gerald Kidder
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Steve Krawcheck
Andy Laken
Susan Lamert
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William C Larsen
Nina Lazar
Betty Rae Lee
Ann Legg
Noemi Levine
Builder Levy
Pierre F. Lherisson
Margaret E Lippe
John Locke
Nancy S. Lovejoy
Dana Lubow
Jim Luken
Robert & Ann Luther
Robert J Madorran
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Kara Martinez
John F Mattingly
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Virginia Meuers
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Robert Pancner
Jean Paskalides
Judith Peck
Monica Mercedes Perez Jimenez
Manuel Perez Rocha
Nelson Pieter
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Mary Pouliot
Carol Preston
Mike  Rabourn
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Susan Redlich
Blair Redlin
Hector Reina
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Paul Rowe
Ruperto Rumay
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Genevieve Shea
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Virginia Stancs
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Stewart Wiggers
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