[Nettime-bold] THE QUEBEC WALL: What lies behind Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)?

["ricardo dominguez" <rdom@thing.net>]

THE QUEBEC WALL: What lies behind Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)?
by Michel Chossudovsky
Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa [18 April 2001]

The Summit of the Americas will be held inside a four kilometer "bunker"
made of concrete and galvanized steel fencing. The 10 feet high "Quebec
Wall" encircles part of the historic city center including the parliamentary
compound of the National Assembly, hotels and shopping areas. Cars will
enter through closely guarded checkpoints; laissez-passers have been issued
to official delegations, to the CEOs of major banks and corporations, as
well as approved media and "selected invitees." (Click to see map of the
"Security Perimeter" at
http://www.securitesommet.ca/pages/p_citoyen/p_cito_pe_f.html).

Outside the bunker, more than 6,000 police and security forces are on hand,
equipped not only with "pepper spray" but also with "multi-shot" Arwen 37
guns shooting hard-coated plastic bullets. The latter --according to a RCMP
spokesperson-- are

"... 'meant to crack a rib and put them in a lot of pain', ... Tactical
squads are usually required to test such less-lethal weapons --such as
Tasers, which deliver electric shocks-- on themselves. But Toronto Police
Constable Leighton said it would be 'too dangerous' to do so with the
Arwen." 1

With Canadian Armed Forces personnel dispatched to Quebec's capital from
military bases in Nova Scotia, the security apparatus in Quebec promises to
be "better organized" than at the Seattle WTO Millenium Summit in 1999. In
Seattle, the city's riot police was integrated with Gang Squads and SWAT
teams of the Tactical Operations Divisions constituting the "more
militarized components" of the police force.

By any standard this is the largest police operation in North America
directed against ordinary citizens. Rather than "cordoning off" the
conference center which is standard practice in international summits-- the
Canadian authorities have chosen to "fence in" a large part of the downtown
area --not only denying the rights of citizens to protest but also
preventing residents from moving around within their own city.

And those who defy the Quebec Wall will be taken to Orsainville penitentiary
which has been emptied of its entire prison population (including several
members of the Hells Angels) to make room for these more dangerous
"troublemakers."

THE QUEBEC WALL IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Barely a week before the Summit, the Canadian and provincial governments,
the City of Quebec and Quebec City's Police force were taken to court by a
Montreal lawyer and the Vancouver based Canadian Liberty Committee (CLC). In
a signed affidavit, the Canadian government representative stated that
democracy was not under threat, to ensure:

''freedom of expression ... the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade has [sent] invitations to the Summit to approximately 60
representatives of interest groups and lobby groups." 2

Moreover, "alternative protest sites" ("sites alternatifs de manifestation")
have been designated --on the other side of the Wall-- so that the rank and
file of these same civil society organisations can do their own thing.

The "People's Summit", organized by NGOs and major trade unions-- will
receive "financial contributions for the holding of seminars, colloquia and
public meetings."3 The federal government has allocated Can$287,000-- a
comfortable amount of money, but "peanuts" in comparison to the 46 million
dollar budget allocated by Ottawa for the police operation and the erection
of the Wall.

WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT

The official list of civil society invitees has not been made public but we
have a good idea who the "partner" civil society organizations are. The
invitees include leaders of major trade union federations as well as several
CEOs of mainstream NGOs. 4

The ritual is broadly similar to that of the 1999 Seattle World Trade
Organization (WTO) Millenium Summit. Several months ahead of time, the WTO
and Western governments had called for a "dialogue" with the leaders of
selected civil society organisations. A carefully worded AFL-CIO petition
had been drafted urging the WTO Summit to adopt "trade and investment rules
[which] protect workers' rights and the environment". In Seattle, Labor's
buzzword was to "make the global economy work for working families". 5

Similarly, last January at the global business Summit in Davos --regrouping
the World's top corporate execs, heads of State and VIPs, the leaders of
some 59 "civil society" organisations --including the CEOs of Greenpeace,
Oxfam UK, Amnesty International and Save the Children Alliance-- were also
in attendance.

The ploy is to selectively handpick civil society leaders "whom we can
trust" and integrate them into a "dialogue", cut them off from their rank
and file, make them feel that they are "global citizens" acting on behalf of
their fellow workers but make them act in a way which serves the interests
of the corporate establishment:

The participation of NGOs in the Annual Meeting in Davos is evidence of the
fact that [we] purposely seek to integrate a broad spectrum of the major
stakeholders in society in ... defining and advancing the global agenda ...
We believe the [Davos] World Economic Forum provides the business community
with the ideal framework for engaging in collaborative efforts with the
other principal stakeholders [NGOs] of the global economy to "improve the
state of the world," which is the Forum's mission. 6

AFL-CIO's John Sweeney and Canadian Labor Congress (CLC) Ken
Georgetti --together with Bill Jordan of the International Confederation of
Free trade Unions (ICTFU)-- were also in Davos, mingling in a friendly
environment with financier George Soros, Microsoft's Bill Gates and World
Bank President James Wolfensohn. Meanwhile the rank and file protesters of
these "civil society" organisations were being beaten with clubs and
assaulted with water cannons by the Swiss riot police "outside" the
Conference venue at the "counter-Davos."

RITUAL OF DISSENT

In the New World Order, the ritual of inviting "civil society" leaders into
the inner circles of power --while simultaneously repressing the rank and
file-- serves several important functions. First, it says to the World that
the critics of globalization "must make concessions" to earn the right to
mingle. Second, it conveys the illusion that while the global elites
should --under what is euphemistically called democracy-- be subject to
criticism, they nonetheless rule legitimately. And third, it says "there is
no alternative" to globalization: fundamental change is not possible and the
most we can hope is to engage with these rulers in an ineffective "give and
take".

While the "Globalizers" may adopt a few progressive phrases to demonstrate
they have good intentions, their fundamental goals are not challenged. And
what this "civil society mingling" does is to reinforce the clutch of the
corporate establishment while weakening and dividing the protest movement.

An understanding of this process of co-optation is important, because tens
of thousands of the most principled young people in Seattle, Prague and
Quebec City are involved in the anti-globalization protests because they
reject the notion that money is everything, because they reject the
impoverishment of millions and the destruction of fragile Earth so that a
few may get richer. This rank and file and some of their leaders as well,
are to be applauded. But we need to go further. We need to challenge the
right of the "Globalizers" to rule. This requires that we rethink the
strategy of protest. Can we move to a higher plane, by launching mass
movements in our respective countries, movements that bring the message of
what globalization is doing, to ordinary people? For they are the force that
must be mobilized to challenge those who would plunder the Globe.

THE FTAA: PRIVATIZATION OF A HEMISPHERE, UNDER U.S. CONTROL

The FTAA is a good deal more than a trade agreement. Throughout the
Americas, it would radically transform the social existence of sovereign
nations.

Fundamental economic, social and institutional relations would be enshrined
into a set of legally binding conditions. All public services that are at
least in part subsidized by the State, would be opened up to international
tender under the terms of the proposed clauses on "national treatment." If a
government finances health or education, this service must be opened to
international bidding. And who would bid? The large corporations would take
control, all community based facilities would be transformed into
profit-making undertakings ---schools, sports clubs, day-care centers,
everything.

Moreover, the FTAA clauses would literally allow for the privatization of
municipalities. Water, sewer systems, roads and municipal services would be
owned and operated by private companies (rather than by citizens) much in
the same way as the "gated communities" in the US. More generally, the FTAA
would destroy local economies, depress wages and impoverish millions of
people. The agreement --entrenched in international law-- would annul or
invalidate national laws.

The FTAA would also allow for the privatization of water, inter-city
highways as well as entire urban areas. The FTAA would also lead to the
demise of national, regional and municipal governments.

IMF MEDICINE BECOMES PERMANENT

Moreover, under FTAA rules, the enforcement of the IMF's deadly "economic
medicine" --which has served to destroy national economies and impoverish
developing countries --would no longer hinge upon cumbersome loan
agreements, which for the governments had the advantage that they were not
"legally binding" documents.

But under FTAA rules, Latin American governments would have no political
leverage whatsoever; they would loose their "right" to even negotiate with
their creditors: the "economic medicine" would become permanently entrenched
in international law. Countries would not longer be "bonded" by external
debt; they would be permanently "enslaved" by their creditors.

CHARTER OF RIGHTS FOR CORPORATIONS

The FTAA would grant a "charter of rights" to corporations, which would not
only override national laws but would also enable private companies to sue
national governments, demand the annulment of national laws and receive
compensation for potential lost profits which result from government
regulations.

While some of these broad issues will be debated at the People's Summit,
they have not been included in the demands of trade union leaders from the
US, Canada and Latin America. Regrouped under the umbrella of the ICFTU, The
trade unions have called upon the FTAA Summit to include the usual core
labor standards, environmental and human rights clauses in the agreement.

THE AMERICAN EMPIRE

This is not a trade deal; it is the American Empire. Behind the FTAA are the
powers of Wall Street and the military-industrial complex. Ironically, while
local economies including public services would be deregulated, under the
FTAA the production of weapons of mass destruction by America's major
defense contractors would remain heavily subsidized...

Although not officially on the FTAA agenda, the militarization of South
America under "Plan Colombia", the signing of a "parallel" military
cooperation protocol by 27 countries of the Americas (the so-called
Declaration of Manaus) is an integral part of the process of hemispheric
integration. US strategic interests are at stake.

The imposition of "free" trade by Washington is an instrument of economic
conquest which serves US corporate interests as well as those of the
military-intelligence-apparatus. Trade Negotiator Richard Zoellnick --who is
slated to play a key role in Quebec City-- is part of the Bush National
Security Team working closely with National Security Adviser Condoleezza
Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

DOLLARISATION

The deregulation of national banking institutions is part and parcel of the
Summit agenda. Supported by the Bush administration, Wall Street wants to
extend its control throughout the hemisphere, eventually displacing or
taking over existing national financial institutions.

With the help of the IMF, Washington is also bullying Latin American
countries into accepting the US dollar as their national currency. The
greenback has already been imposed on five Latin American countries
including Ecuador, Argentina, Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala.

The economic and social consequences of "dollarisation" have been
devastating. In these countries, Wall Street and the US Federal Reserve
system directly control monetary policy. The entire structure of public
expenditure is controlled by US creditors. Real wages have collapsed, social
programs have been destroyed, large sectors of the population have been
driven into abysmal poverty.

While not officially part of the FTAA Summit agenda, the adoption of the US
dollar as the common currency for the Western Hemisphere is being discussed
behind closed doors.

Militarisation and "dollarisation" are the essential building blocks of the
American Empire.

DISARMING THE NEW WORLD ORDER

With mounting dissent from all sectors of society against the FTAA, the
official Summit desperately needs the token participation of "civil society"
leaders "on the inside", to give the appearance of being "democratic." The
Summit is seeking the endorsement of these organizations in exchange for
token modifications of the Agreement, which do not put into doubt the
overall legitimacy of the FTAA nor modify substantially the workings of the
proposed free trade area.

The hidden agenda is to weaken and divide the protest movement and orient
the anti-globalization movement into areas that do not directly threaten the
interests of the business establishment and --more importantly-- which do
not raise the broader issue of Washington's political hegemony in the
Western Hemisphere.

Meanwhile, George W. Bush's trade negotiator Robert Zoellnick is preparing
fast-track legislation packaged under the "presidential trade promotion
authority", with a view to rushing the FTAA (without amendments) through the
US Congress. In other words, instating the American Empire will not be
subjected to the uncertainties of parliamentary consent.

In turn, in consultation with the AFL-CIO, the powerful Business Roundtable
(BR) and The Emergency Committee for American Trade (ECAT) --integrated by
the representatives of America's largest corporations-- are pushing the line
of the trade union bosses, they are demanding the Bush administration "to
make labor and environmental standards part of future trade talks."6

While most of the protesters who have converged on Quebec City (including
Quebec's vibrant student movement) reject the trade deal outright, the
leaders of some of the mainstream "civil society" groups want to get their
human rights, democracy, labor and environmental clauses embedded into the
official texts and then "cry victory," we've done it! 7 However, by doing
this they would not only go against their rank and file, they would also
provide --without fully realizing the implications-- legitimacy to an all
encompassing process which destroys institutions and impoverishes millions
of people.

The American Empire cannot be amended; it must be rejected, fought and
defeated. The FTAA must be closed down!

ENDNOTES

1. Toronto Star, 22 March 2001.

2. Canada, Province de Quebec, District de Quebec, Cours supérieure, No.
200-05-014848-019, Affidavit de Denis Ricard, Section II, paragragh 16).

3. According to the signed affidavit, Canada, Province de Québec, op cit.

4. CLC K. Georgetti and AFL-CIO J. Sweeney are also on the guest list of the
official FTAA Summit in Quebec City. While the Council of Canadians (COC)
has stated that it will decline Ottawa's invitation, Matthew Coon Come,
National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations has accepted. Among union
leaders, the President of the Quebec's FTQ Henry Massé has accepted, while
making clear that he will also be participating (outside the bunker) in the
People's Summit in solidarity with his rank and file.

5. See AFL-CIO, "Make the Global Economy Work for Working Families",
http://www.wslc.org/wto/index.htm. , October 1999)

6. See World Economic Forum, Press Release,
http://www.weforum.org/whatwedo.nsf/documents/what+we+do?Open 5 January
2001.

7. In these Times, 16 April 2001

Related texts by Michel Chossudovsky:

Seattle and Beyond: Disarming the New World Order, November 1999 at
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/seattle.htm

Global Poverty in the Late 20th Century, Journal of International Affairs,
Fall 1999 at http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/chossu.htm .

CBC "Commentary", on the FTAA and the likely fate of the Canadian Dollar,
CBC, 9 April 2001.

C Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, Ottawa, April 2001. All rights reserved.
Permission is granted to post this text on non-commercial community internet
sites, provided the essay remains intact and the copyright note is
displayed. The text can also be photocopied for non-commercial distribution.
To publish this text in printed and/or other forms contact the author at
chossudovsky@videotron.ca, fax: 1-514-4256224.

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