[Seattle-editorial] FTAA as frontpage!

[Emily Reilly]

Hi seattle Editorail Collective: 
I am writing you request that the FTAA and the Race to the Bottom be the 
feature of the front page as soon as possible. Please find a sample 
article below. 
thanks, 
emily reilly 

STOP the FTAA: RACE TO THE BOTTOM! 
Tens of thousands across the hemisphere expected to mobilize against 
upcoming negotiation of the massive extension of the North American Free 
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in Miami, November... 

The proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) would expand NAFTA’s 
proven disastrous record of environmental plunder, massive job and wage 
loss, erosion of public safety into all of Central and South America and 
the Caribbean (except Cuba). Additionally, if passed the FTAA will force 
the public and service sectors of the hemisphere to be taken over by 
corporations, in the privatization of water, electricity, transportation, 
education, emergency and government services, and healthcare. 

Because Bush narrowly won “Fast Track” or “Trade Promotion Authority” last 
year, members of Congress will have just a few hours to consider the final 
agreement, and will be forced to vote “yes” or “no” without any 
negotiation or amendments. 

The corporate trade lobby faces the possibility of the agreement crumbling 
because of widespread opposition, even amongst trade delegates. In the 
September meetings of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Cancun, 
Mexico, Southern countries successfully banded together and refused to 
sign what they considered to be a plan heavily weighted toward the 
interests of the US, Europe, and other major powers. 

Recognizing that the FTAA puts so much at stake, organizers around the 
hemisphere are hard at work at stopping it. Analysis from “fair trade” 
organizations indicates that Washington State’s congressional votes on 
trade issues are among the most strategic in the nation. So while the 
civil societies of the Western Hemisphere gather against the further 
expansion of neoliberal trade policies and for economic, social, and 
environmental justice, Seattle will be protesting the global 
economic “race to the bottom” in refreshing way: the “Race to the Bottom 
Fun Run & March.” 

On Nov. 22, a rally will take place in Occidental Park, in the Pioneer 
Square district, highlighting NAFTA’s destructive record and the threats 
posed by the FTAA. Then a march take a symbolic trip through Seattle’s 
downtown, passing sites impacted, threatened, and influenced by “free 
trade.” At the Federal Building, banners will decry Bush’s proposal to lay 
off 800,000 federal employees and privatize their jobs, and a theatrical 
auction will be held to sell off Iraq’s infrastructure, showing that war 
and “free trade” are two sides of the same coin. At the Pike Place Market, 
the theme is to protect family farmers, pushed off the land by NAFTA, 
across the US and Mexico. And at the CASA Latina Day Laborers Center, it’s 
about protecting the rights of immigrants and recognizing they’ve been 
forced to leave their homes because of failed “free trade” policies. 

Other themes address by the rally and march include: 
·        “Structural adjustment in the US,” otherwise known as cuts to 
health and human services 
·        Ongoing attempts – some already successful – to privatize of the 
Port of Seattle, Washington State Ferries, public education, water and 
electricity 
·        Massive loss of white- and blue-collar jobs because of corporate 
outsourcing, and 
·        The continued increase of militarization, locally and abroad 


Stop the FTAA: Join the Race to the BOTTOM! 
Saturday Nov. 22 
Fun Run registration begins at 10am at Occidental Park (at Occidental and 
Main St. in Seattle’s Pioneer Square) 
Rally beings at 11am 
Fun Run and March begin at 11:30 
Both ending at the Seattle Labor Temple for Food, Music, and Awards 
Ceremony for speed, best costumes, and teams. 
See www.seattleglobaljustice.org for info and registration