[Texgreen] Texas Fair Trade Coalition October Newsletter

[Margaret]

Trade Updates FYI

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Texas Fair Trade Coalition
October Newsletter
By Marc Jacobson, Director

The Latest News and Action Alerts (see below for details)
1. Peru FTA Vote Nears -- All-Out Push Needed
2. Bush Administration Continues to Push Colombia FTA
3. Costa Rica Votes for CAFTA -- Possible Electoral Irregularities

TFTC Events and Updates (see below for details)
1. Register Now for Forum on Fair Trade and Latin America this
Sunday in Austin
2. Standing Room-Only at San Antonio Forum on Colombia FTA
3. TFTC welcomes Amanda Walker to staff as Austin Organizer


The Latest News and Action Alerts

Peru FTA Vote Nears - All-Out Push Needed

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the Peru FTA by
the end of
October. Initially slated for an early October vote, it was pushed
back after
the House leadership decided to first have a vote on renewal and
expansion of
Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). That vote has not yet occurred
but is
expected at any time. Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee and
the House
Ways and Means Committee both gave preliminary votes of approval to
the Peru
FTA.

Urgent calls and letters are needed now to the Texas Democratic
delegation to
urge them to oppose the Peru FTA. Only Congressman Gene Green has so
far
indicated that he will vote against it. Special attention is needed
for Reps.
Lloyd Doggett and Ciro Rodriguez, two Congress Members who have
generally been
leaders in the fight for fair trade but who have not yet made up
their minds
about the Peru FTA. Please write, e-mail or call them today!!

Rep. Lloyd Doggett,  202-225-4865, http://www.house.gov/doggett/
Rep. Ciro Rodríguez,  202-225-4511, http://www.rodriguez.house.gov/

If you are in Dallas or Houston, please also write, e-mail or call
Reps. Eddie
Bernice Johnson, Nick Lampson, Al Green, and Sheila Jackson-Lee.

While some changes have been made to improve labor rights and
environmental
standards, major problems in the NAFTA/CAFTA model remain in the
Peru FTA. The
Peru FTA continues to promote off-shoring; subject local, state and
federal
procurement policies to challenge in trade tribunals; undermine the
ability of
small farmers to stay afloat in the face of pro-agribusiness rules; and
require the US to accept food imports that do not meet our safety
standards.
For more information, read the Citizen Trade Campaign's press
release in
opposition to the Peru FTA.

See also the IAMAW statement, an IBEW fact sheet, a letter of
opposition from
UNITE-HERE, a Change to Win letter to the House, a letter to
Congress from two
Peruvian unions, and a letter from several environmental advocacy
groups.


The Bush Administration Continues to Push Colombia FTA

In his weekly radio address on Saturday, Bush made a push for trade
pacts with
Peru, Panama, and Colombia. In similar remarks on Friday, Secretary
of State
Condoleezza Rice said that the Bush administration wanted the
Colombia FTA
passed "most of all." (Inside US Trade, Oct. 12) Over the weekend,
Commerce
Secretary Carlos Gutierrez led a delegation of Congress Members to
Colombia to
convince them to support the FTA.

In light of this effort, TFTC has been working hard to highlight
widespread
opposition to the Colombia FTA and to detail the vast human rights
abuses
going on there. See the information below about the September 27th
forum on
the Colombia FTA. Please help us continue to let our representatives
know
that a free trade agreement with Colombia is extremely unacceptable.
Special
attention should be paid to contacting Reps. Charlie Gonzalez and
Chet Edwards,
two major targets of the Bush Administration.

Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, 202-225-3236,  http://www.gonzalez.house.gov/
Rep. Chet Edwards, 202-225-6105,  http://edwards.house.gov/


Costa Rica Votes for CAFTA, Possible Election Irregularities
On Sunday, October 7, Costa Rican citizens voted in the first-ever
popular
referendum on CAFTA. The vote was a big disappointment for those
fighting for
fair trade and against extending the NAFTA model in the Americas.
Official
figures show the "yes" campaign won with an extremely narrow lead of
51.6%
for, 48.4% against. Polls leading up to the vote showed a clear
majority in
opposition, but a last minute (possibly illegal) barrage of pro-CAFTA
campaigning, including a widely publicized threat of reprisal from
President Bush
the day before the vote, seem to have swayed just enough people to
vote yes.

Election observers and other concerned groups have already contested
the
results, with many claiming that Costa Rica's ban on campaigning in
the 3 days
before the vote was breached by the pro-CAFTA campaign. The Alliance
for
Responsible Trade is sending a letter
(http://www.art-us.org/node/273) to the
Organization of American States (OAS) urging them to challenge the
vote.

TFTC Events and Updates

Register Now for Forum on Fair Trade and Latin America this Sunday
in Austin
TFTC is co-sponsoring a forum, "Our Choices, Global Impact: A Forum
on Fair
Trade and Latin America," this Sunday, October 21 from 1PM-5PM at
the Thompson
Conference Center of the LBJ School of Government at UT. Learn about
the
harmful impact of the free trade model on workers, local economies,
immigration, the environment, agriculture, human rights, and access to
medicine. Discuss how Central Texans can influence legislation and
policy, and
promote an alternative fair trade approach that takes seriously our
values of
justice, democracy, and human dignity. Examples discussed will
include the
successful effort to get the City of Austin to pass a sweatfree
ordinance and
the ongoing campaign to urge Travis County to do so as well. The
forum will
both educate and provide opportunities for action.

For more information on this fantastic event, visit
www.texasfairtrade.org/AustinFairTradeForum.html

Register now at www.oxfamut.org/forumregistration.

Standing Room-Only at San Antonio Forum on Colombia FTA

Community leaders from across San Antonio gathered on Thursday for a
forum to
highlight widespread opposition to the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade
Agreement.
More than 30 unions, community groups, religious organizations,
environmental
groups, student organizations, and elected officials joined together
to call
on the San Antonio Congressional delegation to oppose this free trade
agreement. See the press release for more details.

Special thanks to the great presenters, Martha Ojeda with CJM,
Natalia Cardona
with AFSC, Dan Kovalik with USW, and Gerardo Cajamarca with the USW
Global
Justice Program. Other participants included former City
Councilwoman Patti
Radle, AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller, Petra Mata with Fuerza
Unida, Richard
Sanchez with LCLAA San Antonio, and Dr. Rob Huesca of Trinity
University.

See the articles and columns generated by the event: San Antonio
Current
article, Carlos Guerra column, and SA Express-News story.

TFTC Welcomes Amanda Walker to Staff as Austin Organizer
After interning with us in August, Amanda joined the TFTC staff as a
part-time
Austin Organizer in September. She is a recent graduate of Texas State
University, San Marcos with a double major in political science and
philosophy. We are very excited that she will be serving as the primary
liaison for TFTC to the Austin community. Amanda has been very
involved in
the planning for the Forum on Fair Trade and Latin America, and she
will
continue to be a key voice in the Travis County SweatFree Campaign
and our
Austin area trade policy advocacy. You can contact her at the TFTC
office at
512-476-0569 or via e-mail at philos84@yahoo.com.