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Call to Mobilize for the Permanent International Camp for Social Justice and Dignity of the PeoplesAnonymous Comrade writes: "Our Cry Will Be Heard! Dear compa–eros y compa–eras: From Quito, Ecuador, in the middle of the planet, we send you greetings of solidarity. We are calling on you to be part of the Permanent International Camp for Social Justice and the Dignity of the Peoples, whose aim is to develop a space of action and encounter between persons, organizations and social movements that dedicate ourselves to the construction of a world in which we can all be a part. We struggle against all forms of exploitation, domination, discrimination and against all forms of power that sustain themselves in inhumane, unequal and unjust relationships. Our struggle is against the imposition of a uni-polar world where the economic interests of a fistful of multinational corporations have exclusive priority, while the great majority of the population of the planet is forced into poverty, lacking true democracy and without the most elemental human rights. Therefore, we find it necessary to confront the neoliberal globalization from the perspective of world resistance. The era of communications opens up new possibilities of exchange, debate, criticism and the coordination of our local and regional struggles in a new international context. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, they proclaimed the end of history. Supposedly, there was no longer any space for utopias, diversity or hope. Nevertheless, all over the world different forms of struggle and anti-hegemony resistance are emerging, expressed by a wide panorama of organizations, projects and mobilizations that, in spite of their differences, share the same paths. The possibility to construct our utopias has been and continues to be possible. Plan Colombia is a Plan of War. Down with the FTAA! Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Haiti, El Salvador, Panama, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Ecuador... This is the long and incomplete list of North American colonial interventionism in Latin America that has not ended with the end of the Cold War, nor did it begin during said period. Under the pretext of the war on drugs, Plan Colombia is a continuation of this historical process of interventionism, this time under the neoliberal logic. This long term plan intends to "resolve" the Colombian conflict by way of a military solution that justifies the inversion of billions of dollars, which in the end are going to return to the treasuries of the United States through the selling of high technology weaponry and military assesment. The effects of the application of Plan Colombia are already being felt in the region with the implementation of the Andean Regional Initiative (ARI): the militarization and expansion of violence, which combined with forced fumigations, instead of affecting the coca crops, is provoking the destruction of regional bio-diversity, the living conditions of the population, and their consequent displacement. The interest of the United States and the globalized capitalist project is the control of the natural resources of the Amazons, a large reserve of sweet water, genetic bio-diversity, petroleum and other minerals, as well as the establishment of strategic military positions in the heart of South America in order to contain the growing resistance and mobilization of our peoples. The dollarization in Ecuador and Central America and the convertibility in Argentina are the most recent steps in this context, which continue the process of foreign indebtedness and colonial dependency with the long-known outcomes of poverty, social inequality, the concentration and exportation of wealth, all in detriment of millions of human beings. In Ecuador, the government of Jamil Mahuad and Gustavo Noboa was overthrown by the indigenous and popular insurection of the 21st of January, 2000. The implementation of the dollar was the last act of Mahuad and the first of Noboa, who was handed over the presidency by the military hierarchy in the Defense Ministery under the supervision of Arturo Valenzuela, the presonal advisor of Bill Clinton. Noboa is continuing the neoliberal project, obeying to the letter the orders of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, in agreement with the oligarchic groups of the Highlands and the Coast. The result has been the application of a series of tragic measures such as the insertion of Ecuador in Plan Colombia, the bank bailouts, the increase in the VAT (Value Added Tax), the process of the privatization of strategic sectors of the economy - social security, electricity, communications, water, etc. - and the dollarization of the economy. With the new foreign currency, Ecuador finished the year 2000 with an inflation rate of 91%, the highest of the continent. The richest 10% of the population controls 60% of the income, while the poorest 10% subsists with barely 0.6%. Almost 80% of the workers, including children, adolescents and women, are either unemployed or under-employed. According to the World Bank, more than half of the Ecuadorians live in conditions of poverty. Nevertheless, the actual statistics are much more alarming: 80% of the population is poor, which is more than 9 million people, 3 million of which live in extreme poverty. The other side of poverty is expulsion: approximately 25% of the population has migrated in the last five years, primarily to Spain and the United States. The migrants, many of which are professionals, work as "illegals" in inhumane conditions, generating with their economic remittances more earnings than the entire export sector with the exception of petroleum. These are the real results of the recipes imposed by organisms such as the World Bank and the IMF. With the militarization of the northern border and the concession and installation of a North American military base in the city of Manta - at the backs of the parliament and without consulting the population - Ecuador has become involved from head to toe in Plan Colombia, in which the country now plays a crucial role. The neoliberal forces, primarily of the United States, are the ones who impose these politics that affect the region, while at the same time strengthening their own interests. The Permanent International Camp for Social Justice and the Dignity of the Peoples ...
...is a space of civil resistance that seeks to articulate a wide array of persons, organizations and movements that together reject Plan Colombia, the FTAA and the neoliberal globalization in all of their manifestations. We are going to come together We believe that another world is indeed possible. Defeating the plans of war we can achieve, with our dedication and hope, the world that we have dreamed since the beginning of our history. No More War! Our Cry Will Be Heard! The sovereignty of the peoples of Latin America is being violated, the political decisions have a clear direction of exclusion of the majorities, the capitalist economic project does not bring about prosperity, they are selling us war as a viable alternative. It is time to articulate our resistances. Quito, July, 2001. LIST OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT ADHERE TO THE CALL TO MOBILIZATION (3-09-01) Acci—n Ecol—gica INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Asociaci—n Ecuador Llactacaru (Barcelona, Espa–a) Please send your decision to adhere to this call to mobilization to : campamento@ecuanex.net.ec." |
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