> >/* Written 3:16 PM Feb 28, 1998 by igc:newsdesk in web:ips.english */ > >/* ---------- "DEVELOPMENT: Global Struggle Declar" ---------- */ > > Copyright 1998 InterPress Service, all rights reserved. > > Worldwide distribution via the APC networks. > > > > *** 25-Feb-98 *** > > > >Title: DEVELOPMENT: Global Struggle Declared Against Liberalisation > > > >By Gustavo Capdevila > > > >GENEVA, Feb 25 (IPS) - The first global movement opposed to the > >liberalisation of trade and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was > >created Wednesday in Geneva by 303 delegates of civic groups from > >every continent. > > > >The new group's strength will be put to the test May 18 to 20 > >with worldwide protest demonstrations, scheduled to coincide with > >a WTO ministerial conference here in Geneva. > > > >A coordinating body, People's Global Action (PGA), will > >concentrate information on the demonstrations, which will be > >adapted to the needs and realities of each region. ''We have a > >common strategy, but will adopt different forms of protest,'' said > >Medha Patkar, the head of India's National Alliance of People's > >Movements. > > > >But the political manifesto of the PGA, approved at the close > >of the conference Wednesday, underlines that the protests against > >the WTO and neo-liberal economic model will consist of non-violent > >acts of civil disobedience. > > > >''Such democratic action carries with it the essence of non- > >violent civil disobedience to the unjust system,'' says the > >document. > > > >The PGA conference accepted the peaceful character of the > >disobedience after some debate. But on the request of Latin > >American indigenous delegates, an article was added that reads > >''however, we do not judge the use of other forms of action under > >certain circumstances.'' > > > >''Even democratically elected governments have been > >implementing these policies of the globalisation of poverty > >without debate among their own peoples or their elected > >representatives,'' the document stresses, and ''the people are > >left with no choice but to destroy'' WTO-led trade agreements. > > > >''We want to tell the governments that they are destroying > >humanity with these policies. We aspire to a more just world,'' > >said Argentina's Alejandro Demichelis, of the Confederation of > >Education Workers. > > > >Demichelis' union was one of the creators of the PGA, along > >with the Peasant Movement of the Philippines, Brazil's Landless > >Movement, the Sandinista Central Workers union in Nicaragua and > >Mexico's Zapatista National Liberation Front (EZLN), and many > >other groups. > > > >Rene Riesen, with France's Confederation of Farmers, maintained > >that developing countries were not the only ones disturbed by the > >expansion of the neo-liberal model. Agricultural and food products > >should be excluded from globalisation, as they cannot be put in > >the same category as other merchandise, he added. > > > >The PGA issued a call to people worldwide to cooperate in the > >action against ''anti-democratic development.'' > > > >''We call for direct confrontation with transnational > >corporations harnessed to state power for short term profit,'' the > >document says, while underlining that direct democratic action > >against globalisation should be combined with the constructive > >building of alternative and sustainable lifestyles. > > > >Spain's Sergio Hernandez, with the Fair Play organisation, > >pointed out that all other attempts to organise movements against > >neo-liberalism at an international level this decade had failed. > > > >But he added that the example provided by the Zapatista > >movement, which burst on the scene in Mexico in 1994, contributed > >to the success of the PGA conference, which was organised with a > >broad-minded outlook along the lines of the EZLN call for ''a > >world in which all worlds fit.'' > > > >PGA leader Hernandez added that like the Zapatistas, the global > >movement ''is not interested in power.'' > >(END/IPS/TRA-SO/PC/MJ/SW/98) > > > > > >Origin: Montevideo/DEVELOPMENT/ > > ---- > > > > [c] 1998, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS) > > All rights reserved > > > > May not be reproduced, reprinted or posted to any system or > > service outside of the APC networks, without specific > > permission from IPS. This limitation includes distribution > > via Usenet News, bulletin board systems, mailing lists, > > print media and broadcast. For information about cross- > > posting, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. For > > information about print or broadcast reproduction please > > contact the IPS coordinator at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
