---> MONTREAL ANTI-WTO ORGANIZING ASSEMBLY: Wednesday, May 28, 6:30pm; at
L'X (182, Ste-Catherine est, metro Berri-UQAM)
Pierre Pettigrew, Canada's Minister of International Trade responsible for the FTAA, has announced that the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be having a mini-ministerial meeting in Montreal this coming July 28-30, 2003. The Montreal WTO meeting will be important for the success of the next major round of WTO negotiations in Cancun, Mexico this coming September.
Already, major protests are planned for Cancun, as well as solidarity actions worldwide, in opposition to the destructive social and ecological agenda of the WTO, and its links to war, militarization and displacement, as well as the cultural robbery and genocide of indigenous cultures.
The WTO was effectively shut down in Seattle in 1999. In 2001, the WTO needed to meet in Doha, Qatar (the current headquarters of the US military's Central Command, responsible for the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan), where it was effectively isolated from protesters. This year, the WTO is trying to make a comeback with its meetings at the tourist resort of Cancun, and the July meeting in Montreal is an important stop in determining the success of the WTO agenda. Disrupting the meeting could have a real impact on the ability of WTO to make its comeback.
An organizing assembly to prepare an effective "WTO welcoming" is being called by Montreal-area organizers and activists affiliated with several local anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist and anti-war groups and collectives. The assembly is being called based on the respect for a diversity of tactics, supporting a variety of creative initiatives against the WTO ranging from popular education to direct action. We encourage local groups that may have action or popular education proposals to oppose the WTO to get in touch in advance of the meeting.
---> The assembly will take place this coming WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 2003, starting at 6:30pm, at L'X (182, Ste-Catherine Street East, corner of Hotel-de-Ville, near metros Berri-UQAM or St-Laurent). Childcare is available on location, and there will be translation into French, English and Spanish.
At this assembly, we are hoping to launch a Montreal-area mobilisation effort, based on a convergence of current local campaigns, to "welcome" the WTO in July and work in solidarity with anti-WTO efforts in Mexico and Latin America.
The hallmarks of the People's Global Action (PGA) network (included below) will serve as the basis of unity for the organizing assembly.
Resist the WTO! Help prepare a Montreal welcome for the WTO meetings in July!
To stay in touch, please e-mail: resisteomc@yahoo.ca
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PGA Hallmarks (http://www.agp.org)
The following hallmarks are the basis of unity of the anti-WTO organizing assembly on May 28, 2003:
1. A very clear rejection of capitalism, imperialism and feudalism; all trade agreements, institutions and governments that promote destructive globalisation;
2. We reject all forms and systems of domination and discrimination including, but not limited to, patriarchy, racism and religious fundamentalism of all creeds. We embrace the full dignity of all human beings.
3. A confrontational attitude, since we do not think that lobbying can have a major impact in such biased and undemocratic organisations, in which transnational capital is the only real policy-maker;
4. A call to direct action and civil disobedience, support for social movements' struggles, advocating forms of resistance which maximize respect for life and oppressed peoples' rights, as well as the construction of local alternatives to global capitalism;
5. An organisational philosophy based on decentralisation and autonomy.