NA(FTAA)

The times are not a changin'

Waiting to board a van with 15 strangers and sit for the next 24 hours, I foresee the back pain that will come only from being cramped -- unmoving for hours on end. The mere thoughts of the smell of musty, confined adults without showers or crisp Humboldt air repel me.

While it sounds as if I'm being herded off to Pelican Bay, the truth is that I was delighted to be able to attend the People's Summit on Globalization in Boulder, Colo. I vividly remember the Friday afternoon I spent looking for the dear soul who held my magic number for registration in her hand, which would prove to be the only promise of my butt getting in that van. I didn't concern myself with the unit I'd earn through women's studies or the money it would cost for gas. I would ride in a trunk to get the chance to go.

It's about sacrifice. Many students at Humboldt State are learning about the sacrifices other countries are making in order to survive as healthy populations. And we are beginning to look at our own luxuries ask the question: What is the real cost of getting such goods?

Many realize change needs to occur, and they take steps within their own lives to correct their wrongs. Some choose not to buy products manufactured in sweatshops. Others choose only to eat foods grown on organic farms. While many students are doing their parts independently, there are some who are seeking massive audiences and immediate change. Many of the proposed changes circulating campus are heavily involved in international campaigns.

on and the Free Trade Area of the Americas have dominated the semester. And interest in international relations is on the forefront of many class and club agendas at HSU.

Student organizer Tara Nuth cheerfully anticipates her adventure to Boulder, Col., as fellow students gather to embark on a quest against the Free Trade Area of the Americas. photo by Kevin Bell

So what is the Free Trade Area of the Americas, and why are so many people opposed to it? The FTAA is the expansion of the already existing North American Free Trade Agreement to the entire Western Hemisphere, excluding Cuba. That means that 34 countries within the Americas will be obligated to convert their current policies to adhere to one all-encompassing global trade agreement. This is similar to NAFTA in that every sector of life -- from agriculture to labor to logging practices -- is dictated by formalities within the agreement.

NAFTA, which was established in 1994, is a trade agreement -- between the United States, Canada and Mexico -- that liberalizes trade, enabling the government to legally override labor and environmental regulations in the name of profits for multinational corporations financially linked to the goods and services being traded.

These trade agreements were negotiated in private through agency leaders appointed by each country's head of state. Citizens of these countries were given no news briefings on the meetings. Agendas were, and still are, not being publicly distributed. And there was no vote before approving such a significant shift in policy. During the deliberations for NAFTA, the idea of an agreement of all the Americas being economically entangled circulated before actually seeing the effects of free trade on three countries.

Since the Free Trade Area of the Americas is simply an extension of the preexisting free-trade agreement between Canada and the United States and NAFTA, we are able to reasonably predict possible outcomes of its implementation. Potential outcomes, such as multimillion-dollar lawsuits, could be the deciding factors of whether such trading traditions should go on. An example closer to home would be the recently filed suit by Methanex Corporation, a Vancouver-based company that's suing the United States for $970 million because of legislation in California to ban the gasoline additive MTBE. Manufactured by the corporation, MTBE has contaminated lakes and streams. Methanex is hoping to collect for loss of profits. Economic experts are expecting greater hostility toward NAFTA if the case proceeds in the United States.

In the time since NAFTA was negotiated, opposition has grown significantly. Yet the sources of opposition have remained consistent. Opponents include environmental, labor, religious and farm activists. According to Action for Community and Ecology in the Regions of Central America, "The FTAA will expand NAFTA, not only geographically, but it is also likely to include new rules and policies designed to give investors (corporations) rights and freedoms that are more extensive than the ones they enjoy under NAFTA." The action is not alone. It collaborated with 11 other activist groups to publish an activists' guide against the FTAA expansion. Similarly, students at HSU are speaking out about the illusions of free trade in America.

Before their 2,000-mile-plus journey to the People's Summit on Globalization, students and organizers discuss logistics over their trusty road map. photo by Kevin Bell

"It is classism," she says. "It means that corporations -- not people or non-governmental organizations -- can sue governments if they make laws that protect people and the earth if they cost that company potential profits." She organized the trip to give students the opportunity to learn about both the FTAA and international policy.

A Humboldt group has formed to help educate the community about the impact free trade will have in its neighborhoods. The Network of Resistance, a social advocacy club on campus, subscribes to many list serves -- providing the club with the latest information on the resistance front and updates on new legislative actions. While many members of this club aimed at traveling to Quebec for the protest April 21, they've declined because of the extensive costs and the lengthy time off required. They hoped to be a part of the thousands (early estimates double the attendance of the Seattle protests) expected to converge on the streets of fortified Quebec City while world leaders discuss the plan.

But students and community members have decided to take action locally, which seems to be the word on college campuses from Santa Cruz to Massachusetts. A walkout has been scheduled for April 21 as a way for students to make a statement to our world leaders.

College campuses are at the forefront of inventive protests, as well as forming and organizing through many different media. Enlisting the help of dedicated activists, and accessing alternative media, has helped to create the age of the protester -- where solutions are not individually sought out, but rather achieved through global communication. The accessibility of electronic publications enhances activists' ability to communicate with one another.

The People's Summit on Globalization was created to inform activists about the many media available for initiating change throughout the nation. Whether you are one of the few participants from Humboldt State taking the "How to Organize a Grassroots Campaign" workshop, or a student asking yourself what free trade really means, we are all attending a college where the resources are plentiful and the support is immense. Many students are carrying on the progressive tradition of UC Berkeley in the '60s and demanding "positive social change now!" HSU is known for its defiance of systems operating without moral regard within the city limits of Arcata and across the nation. What we are seeing is a movement expanding and growing with such speed that even when students speak in solitude here, their voices are being echoed by people in every corner of the global community