[asia-apec 1287] ANTI-WTO Peoples' Assembly and March-Rally -- Seattle 1999

[tpl at cheerful.com]

Initial Announcement and Invitation

Peoples' Assembly and March-Rally
Say NO to WTO!

November 28 - 30, 1999
Seattle, Washington

Sentenaryo ng Bayan, a Filipino organization, invites you to SAY NO TO
WTO!, a Peoples' Assembly and March-Rally to be held at the Filipino
Community Center, Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Seattle, Washington on
November 28-30 in time for the 3rd Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade
Organization (WTO). They are part of the various activities to be
undertaken in November and December by the Seattle-based coalition, Network
Opposed to WTO. 

The 3rd WTO Ministerial Meeting will be held in Seattle on November 27 to
December 3. It will most probably start the Millennium Round of GATT
negotiations. Review of the Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) will be a major
agenda. And it is expected that MAI advocates will try to sneak in
investments liberalization.  

The pre-1994 GATT did not include agriculture. After the Uruguay Round of
GATT negotiations, which also gave rise to WTO, fulfillment of commitments
to the AOA was pushed through regional formations like NAFTA, APEC
(Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) and others. AOA has proven disastrous
to the agriculture and fisheries sectors. As a result, peasants, women,
fisherfolk and other anti-WTO and anti-globalization advocates worldwide
have started a campaign to take agriculture out of WTO.  

Say No to WTO! -- the Peoples' Assembly and March-Rally continues the
strong resistance to WTO and imperialist globalization initiated in 1996 by
the People's Conference Against Imperialist Globalization (PCAIG) and the
People's Caravan Against APEC. The torch was passed on to the NO to APEC
Coalition which convened  the conference, PCAIG - Continuing the
Resistance, in Vancouver, Canada as a counterpoint to the 1997 APEC Leaders
Summit. To be mentioned likewise are the Anti-Imperialist World Peasant
Summit (AIWPS) held in Manila in 1996, and the Asia Pacific Peoples'
Assembly (APPA), with the theme Confronting Globalization, Reasserting
Peoples' Rights, and the 3rd International Women's Conference Against APEC
both held in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

Representatives of people's organizations, citizen's movements and NGOs
from different parts of the world will join hands in the Peoples' Assembly
and March-Rally to reiterate their opposition to the AOA, WTO and
imperialist globalization.

OBJECTIVES:

To make people aware of the disastrous effects of the WTO and AOA on the
people, especially of the Third World. 

To push further the demand to take agriculture out of the GATT-WTO.

To continue exposing liberalization, deregulation and privatization as
imperialist globalization's main instruments to eviscerate the economies
especially of the developing countries.

To strengthen peoples' resistance against AOA, WTO and imperialist
globalization.

To expand linkages, forge stronger unities and establish cooperation in
international campaigns with other anti-AOA/WTO, anti-globalization and
anti-imperialist organizations, groups and individuals worldwide.


PROGRAMME (NOTE: Subject to revision based on reply of invited speakers.)

NOVEMBER 28

09:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon	Arrival and registration of delegates

12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m.	Lunch

01:00 p.m.	Opening of the Peoples' Assembly
		Cultural Number  
		Welcome Address from Sentenaryo ng Bayan
		Introduction of Delegations

02:00 p.m. 	Statement of Solidarity from: 
		· Network Opposed to WTO, Seattle
		· NO to APEC Coalition, Vancouver
		· BAYAN and People's Campaign Against 
		Imperialist Globalization  
	
02:15		Keynote Address:  
		Say NO to WTO and Imperialist Globalization! 
		by Rafael Mariano
		Chairperson, BAYAN (New Patriotic Alliance)
		Chairperson, KMP (Peasant Movement of the Philippines)
	
02:45		Plenary Speakers (20-30 minute presentation and 
   		15 minutes of open forum for each speaker):
	
		There's No Such Thing as Free Trade Nor Fair Trade
		Under Imperialist Globalization 
		by Dr. Pao Yu Ching, Taiwan and U.S.A.
	 
03:30		Don't Let MAI In: 
		Oppose Inclusion of Investments Liberalization in WTO
		by Maude Barlow, Canada
		Council of Canadians and
		International Forum on Globalization (IFG)
	 
04:15		Coffee/Tea Break
	
04:45		American Trade Unionists Spurn WTO 
		by Philip Konits, Seattle 
	
05:30		Message of Solidarity  
		From Prof. Jose Maria Sison (videotape)
		International Network for Philippine Studies
		Consultant, National Democratic Front of the Philippines 
	
		From  Mumia Abu Jamal
		Political Prisoner, U.S.A.
	
07:00		Dinner
	
08:00		With Globalization Comes US Aggression 
	
		· The Case of Yugoslavia
	         by Ramsey Clark, U.S.A.
	         International Action Center, New York
				
		· The Case of Cuba
		  by Fernando Remirez de Estenoz  
		     or Sergio Martinez
		
09:30		End of Day 1 Sessions
	
NOVEMBER 29
	
09:00 a.m.	Update on other NO to WTO activities
		by Sally Soriano, Over-all Coordinator
		NO to WTO Coalition
	
09:15		Take Agriculture Out of the WTO!
		Panel of Speakers (20-minute presentation each):

		· Rafael Alegria, Honduras
		  International Operational Secretariat
		  La Via Campesina
			       
		· Mika Iba, Japan
	         Network for Safe and Secure Food and Environment 
		
10:15		Open Forum and Sharing
	
10:45		Coffee/Tea Break
	
11:15		Panel of Speakers - Continued
		· Speaker from Mexico
		· Speaker from Africa
	
12:00		Open Forum and Sharing
	
12:30 noon	Lunch Break
	
01:30 p.m.	Women Say NO to WTO!
		Panel of Speakers (20- minute presentation each):
		· Liza Largoza-Maza, Philippines
	         GABRIELA
	
		· Sarojeni Rengam, Malaysia
		  Pesticide Action Network - Asia Pacific (PAN-AP)
	
		· Fatima Burnad, India
		  Society for Rural Education and Development, Madras
		  Task Force Rural & Indigenous Women, APWLD 
	
		· Hemasari, Indonesia
		  Workers Education Center

03:00		Open Forum and Sharing

04:00 		Coffee/Tea Break

04:30		Presentation and Adoption of Conference Statement
		to be presided by Dr. Carol Pagaduan-Araullo
		BAYAN Vice-Chairperson
		Representative, People's Campaign Against 
		Imperialist Globalization

06:00		Closing Ceremony
		· Closing Remarks
		· Cultural Number

06:30		Dinner 
07:30		SOLIDARITY NIGHT
		Songs, dances, poetry reading and more!

NOVEMBER 30

08:30 - 11:00 a.m.	Tour of Seattle; leafleting in downtown Seattle; 
			join other NO to WTO activities (picket, 
			street theatre, etc.); drop by Convention Center 
			where the WTO meets

			Possible Filipino Migrants' Caucus to be convened 
			by Migrante Intl.
			
			Possible Bilateral Consultation with Japanese 
			Farmer Organizations

11:00 - 11:30		Trip back to Peoples' Assembly venue

11:30 - 12:30		Lunch 

12:30 p.m.		Start of March to downtown Seattle (approximately 
			4.5 miles) to join other marchers and where 
			big Rally will be held  

Evening		Possible Food Tasting and Cultural Evening 
			with the Japanese Delegation


Please write to the Peoples' Assembly Committee for the registration form 
and if you require a personal invitation for visa purposes: 

Secretariat, Peoples' Assembly Committee
Attn: ACE SATURAY, Sentenaryo ng Bayan
e-mail: passembly at yahoo.com

NOTE:  We regret that because of financial constraints, the organizers 
	of the Peoples' Assembly will not be able to subsidize 
	expenses of delegates.