FAX CONGRESS TO SAY NO TO SECRETIVE FTAA MINI-MINISTERIAL

USTR up to its old tricks, again

http://www.citizen.org/fax/background.cfm?ID=178&source=25

06/12/2003

Just when we thought that nothing could be more anti-democratic than the official FTAA process itself, the U.S. Trade Representative Office decides to hold a secretive invitation-only FTAA “mini-ministerial.” Congress has not been notified ­ even our congressional allies have no idea this is happening! Under the radar of the press, Congress and the public, the USTR is hosting an invite-only FTAA mini-ministerial at the exclusive Wye Center in Maryland.

This is where President Clinton hosted Yasser Arafat and Benjamin Netanyahu in 1998 and where Elian Gonzalez was kept in 1999. The Wye Center is where the White House goes when it wants absolute secrecy and security - an impregnable meeting complex with water on one side and a one entrance dirt road on the other. Ironically, one agenda item for this mini-ministerial is “discussions on the challenges of engaging the public on the FTAA!” Of the 34 countries involved in the FTAA, only 15 are invited to participate (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, United States and Uruguay).

The press also is locked out of these closed meetings. And since they are not part of the “official” FTAA process, there is absolutely no accountability for the USTR to report back to Congress or the public about the proceedings. The civil society opposition to the FTAA is growing in Latin America, the Caribbean and here at home. The corporations and the governments that serve them are nervous ­ the fate of the FTAA hangs in the balance and this mini-ministerial is their chance to corner the key players and bully them into pushing negotiations forward.

Like the infamous WTO Green Room process­ where the powerful countries get together to make backroom deals and then bring agreements that have already been signed, sealed and delivered to developing countries to “approve” - the trick that USTR pulling is the oldest one in the book. We must force our Congressional representatives do their job by alerting them to this meeting and insisting that they hold USTR accountable for what happens there! TAKE ACTION! *CALL your Congressional Representative to alert them to the FTAA mini-ministerial and ask for a written response about what happened at the meeting and their position on the FTAA! Capitol Switchboard to be connected to your Representative - 202-224-3121

*FAX your Congressional Representative via our website at http://www.citizen.org/fax/background.cfm?ID=178&source=25

*WRITE a letter to the editor to your local paper (sample letters below)

TALKING POINTS FOR CALLS:

*FTAA is NAFTA expansion to 31 more countries. NAFTA has been a disaster for U.S. working families with more than one million jobs lost and public health and safety laws attacked by foreign corporations in closed tribunals.

* “Mini-ministerials” are secretive and anti-democratic ­they don’t even include all of the FTAA countries! Bad process leads to bad results ­ a FTAA negotiated in secret will have negative impacts for working families, democracy and the environment.

*Congress should demand NO MORE MINI-MINISTERIALS and decry this lack of transparency on the part of the USTR *Congress should demand a full briefing from USTR to the Congressional Oversight Group (COG) on trade as well as relevant committees (Ways and Means, Agriculture, etc) as well as hold public hearings on the FTAA.

For more information: Contact Global Trade Watch at 202-454-5103 or tgerson@citizen.org -----------------------------------------------------