DECLARATION: "We demand that the European Union and the governments of Peru and Colombia stop promoting a split in the Andean Community of Nations (CAN)"
We, social movements and civil society organisations of Europe, Latin America and elsewhere in the world, express our profound concern at the decision of the European Commission — on behalf of the European Union (EU) and its 27 member states, Colombia and Peru, to negotiate bilateral trade agreements, which we fear will prompt a de facto split of the Andean Community (CAN).
The hypocrisy of the European Commission
The European Commission (EC) has failed in its mandate to negotiate on a bloc-to-bloc basis as some Andean countries resisted its extreme neo-liberal framework, outlined in the EC’s trade and investment strategy “Global Europe: Competing in the world.” To conceal its failure, yet still achieve its Global Europe strategy, the EC has decided to pursue the negotiation of bilateral free trade agreements with Colombia and Peru, which it proposes to sign in 2009.
The Commission has declared again and again that the promotion of “regional integration” is one of the priorities of the EU, and that the strengthening and promotion of the Andean integration process was one of the objectives of the so-called Association Agreement with CAN. In deciding instead to pursue bilateral negotiations with Peru and Colombia, the EC’s hypocrisy is exposed. Its stated support for regional integration was useful, only insofar as it facilitates trade and investment liberalisation.
In December 2006, the European Commissioner of International Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, stated: “I want to stress that the aim of this agreement (between the EU and CAN), as well as the spirit of the negotiation to precede it, is and has to be in the interest of both sides. The Association neither makes sense nor has any future if it is created at the expense of one of the sides .” Certainly, the negotiation of the EU-CAN Association Agreement does not make any sense if it has been carried at the expense of CAN integration itself, and in particular at the expense of those countries whose governments, Bolivia and Ecuador, propose a different bi-regional relation with the EU.
Uribe and Garcia: selling out their countries to the European transnationals in detriment of regional integration and against the will of their people
The governments of Colombia and Peru have repeatedly turned their backs on the process of regional integration. Since the signing of free trade agreements with the United States, both Presidents Alvaro Uribe and Alan Garcia have done everything possible to subordinate regional integration priorities to meeting the demands of the super powers. They have opted indeed for a subservient position in the face of neoliberal globalisation and its free trade agreements, and of submissiveness to the interests of transnational corporations.
In the case of the negotiations with the EU, the governments of Colombia and Peru have consistently expressed their preference for bilateral rather than block-to-block negotiations. It is appalling that in the current context of multiple crises affecting the region, which make regional solidarity more important than ever, Colombia and Peru are prepared to pursue their elites’ own self interest, subordinate themselves to the policies of the European Union, and in the process wipe CAN off the map. They are putting Bolivia’s efforts at poverty eradication in dire jeopardy, and are ignoring the will of the people within their own countries, who have strongly objected to the negotiation and signing of a free trade agreement with the European Union.
The agreement between the EU and the Colombian and Peruvian governments to pursue negotiations bilaterally is nefarious in going against the interests of the people of both regions, undermining efforts at a more democratic and people-centred regional integration, and as such constitutes a serious anti-democratic precedent. The EU’s hypocrisy is further underlined by the fact that the EC is choosing to ignore the fact that Colombia is notorious for grave human rights abuses and has the highest rate of assassination of union leaders in the world, and that the Peruvian government pursues continuous repressive policies towards indigenous and other popular movements.
Given the convergence of acute global crises (financial, economic, food, energy and environmental), which can squarely be blamed on irresponsible neo-liberal policies, a radical rethink of the global economic model is more crucial than ever. The positions of Europe, Colombia and Peru do nothing less than condemn ever more people to greater impoverishment.
The European Commission will conclude its mandate in June 2009. This is the opportunity to ensure there is a decisive change in approach. We demand now that the EU abandons its aggressive neo-liberal policies, which sink millions of people deeper into poverty, leading to their jobs being lost and their livelihoods threatened, while their environment and access to public services continue to deteriorate.
Our demands
We, the undersigned members of the Hemispheric Social Alliance, the Europe-Latin America and the Caribbean Bi-regional Network ‘Enlazando Alternativas’, and social movements and civil society organisations of Europe, Latin America and the rest of the world:
CONDEMN:
– The divisive manoeuvring of the European Commission, employing manipulative and strong-armed methods, which will lead to the weakening and eventual disintegration of the Andean Community.
– The imposition by the EU of neo-liberal strategies of trade and investment deregulation, at any cost
– The governments of Peru and Colombia, which are willing to sacrifice the future of their people for the benefit of local elites and the European transnationals.
REJECT:
– The negotiation and signing of a Free Trade Agreement between CAN and the European Union, which is deceptively called an “Association Agreement” and couched in terms of “cooperation” and “political dialogue”.
DEMAND:
– That the EU stops negotiating Free Trade Agreements on the basis of the EU mandate “Global Europe: Competing in the world” and the rules of the World Trade Organisation.
– That the EU, Peru and Colombia commit to a complete re-definition of trade policies, such that they give priority to social justice, environmental sustainability, as well as labour and human rights (including those of women) in EU and CAN countries.
– That the EU, Peru and Colombia grant transparency to trade policy procedures, promoting accountability and democratic scrutiny through parliament and civil society.
– That the governments of Peru and Colombia respect the agreements reached within CAN and that they immediately return to dialogue within CAN.
– That the European Union respects the “bloc-to-bloc” negotiations with CAN and that it stops its negotiations of bilateral agreements with Colombia and Peru.
– That the EU, Peru and Colombia do not destroy one of the oldest regional integration processes on the American continent, that of the Andean Community (CAN), already weakened by the persistence of some governments in pursuing complete liberalisation.
Finally:
– We call on all the social, political and popular organisations, male and female workers, migrants, indigenous and peasant communities, the women, youth and trade union movements of Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and the world to take a stand and mobilise against the negotiations of Free Trade Agreements with the European Union.
Signatories: 197 Organizations and 10 parliamentarians from 31 different countries.
REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS
– 1 Alianza Social Continental (ASC), Américas
– 2 Coordinadora Andina de Organizaciones Indígenas (CAOI)
– 3 Seattle to Brussels Network (S2B), Europa
– 4 FIAN Internacional
– 5 EU-ASEAN FTA Campaign Network, region ASEAN
– 6 Servicio Paz y Justicia en América Latina (SERPAJ), América Latina
– 7 Amigos de la Tierra, Europa
– 8 A SEED Europa
– 9 Coordinación Europea Via Campesina, Europa
– 10 Health Action International Europa
LATIN AMERICA
Argentina
– 11 Organización Nacional de Pueblos Indígenas de Argentina (ONPIA)
Bolivia
– 12 Consejo Nacional de Ayllus y Markas del Qullasuyu (CONAMAQ)
– 13 Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores y Campesinos de Bolivia (CSUTCB)
– 14 Federación Nacional de Mujeres Bartolina Sisa de Bolivia
– 15 Central Obrera de Bolivia (COB)
– 16 Federación del Trópico de Bolivia
– 17 Central Obrera Regional- El Alto
– 18 Huelga Mundial de Mujeres
– 19 Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia (CSUTCB)
– 20 Consejo de Ayllus y Markas del Qollasuyu (CONAMAQ)
– 21 Consejo de Pueblos indígenas del Oriente Boliviano (CIDOB)
– 22 Asociación de Organizaciones de Productores Ecológicos de Bolivia
– 23 Coordinadora de Integración de Organizaciones Económicas Campesinas de Bolivia (CIOEC)
– 24 Comité Nacional de Productividad de la Quinua (CONACOPROQ)
– 25 Coordinadora de Pueblos Étnicos de Santa Cruz (CPESC)
– 26 Confederación de la Micro y Pequeña Industria (CONAMYPE)
– 27 Federación Nacional de Trabajadoras del Hogar (FENATRAHOB)
– 28 Federación de Campesinos de Cochabamba, Oruro, Chuquisaca y el Sudoeste de Potosí
– 29 Federación de Mujeres Campesinas Bartolina Sisa de Cochabamba, El Alto y el Sudoeste de Potosí
– 30 Federación de Colonizadores de Bermejo
– 31 Federación de Regantes de Cochabamba
– 32 Asociación de Regantes de Santa Cruz (ARECRUZ)
– 33 APDH Oruro
– 34 Colectivo Rebeldía
– 35 Centro Integral Juvenil de Llallagua
– 36 Red Tinku
– 37 Fundación Colonia Piraí
– 38 Revista Cuarto Intermedio
– 39 CISTEM
– 40 Juventud Igualitaria Andrés Ibáñez Plan 3000
– 41 Coordinadora de Organizaciones Sociales de Tarija
– 42 Cetha Socamani
– 43 COMIMA
– 44 Café semilla juvenile
– 45 La Red de Mujeres Transformando la Economía REMTE
– 46 Movimiento Grito de los Excluidos
– 47 Movimiento Boliviano por la Soberanía y la Integración Solidaria de los Pueblos contra el TLC y el ALCA
Chile
– 48 Centro Ecuménico Diego de Medellín
– 49 Identidad Territorial Lafkenche
– 50 Comité Reencuentro Chileno Boliviano
– 51 Comisión Etica Contra la Tortura (CECT)
– 52 ATTAC Chile
Colombia
– 53 Red Colombiana de Acción Frente al Libre Comercio (RECALCA)
– 54 La Campaña comercio con Justicia mis derechos no se negocian
– 55 Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia (ONIC)
– 56 Mesa de Trabajo Mujeres y Economía
– 57 Federacion de Areneros y Balasteros del Eje Cafetero
– 58 Asociación de Areneros y Balasteros del Alambrado
– 59 Asociacion Sindical de Areneros y Balasteros del Quindio
– 60 Sindicato de Areneros y Balasteros de Barragan
– 61 Sindicato de Areneros y Balasteros de Dosquebradas
– 62 Instituto Latinoamericano de Servicios Legales Alternativos (ILSA)
– 63 Comite Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos
Costa Rica
– 64 Comisión Nacional de Enlace (CNE)
– 65 Unión Nacional de Productores Agropecuarios de Costarricenses (UNAG)
Ecuador
– 66 Servicio Paz y Justicia
– 67 Confederación de Pueblos de la Nacionalidad Kichwa del Ecuador ECUARUNARI)
– 68 Unión Nacional de Educadores
– 69 Pachakamak Centro Cultural
– 70 Asamblea Popular Parque Italia
– 71 Ecuador Decide
El Salvador
– 72 Red de Accion Ciudadana frente al Libre Comercio, SINTI TECHAN
Honduras
– 73 Bloque Pupular
México
– 74 Red Mexicana de Acción frente al Libre Comercio (RMALC)
– 75 Red nacional Género y Economía (REDGE)
– 76 Marcha Mundial de las Mujeres
– 77 Mujeres para el Dialogo A.C.
– 78 Siembra A.C.
– 79 Red Jubileo Sur
– 80 Movimiento Mexicano de Afectados por las Presas y en Defensa de los Rios
– 81 Colectivo Marea Creciente
– 82 Otros Mundos Chiapas
– 83 Frente Nacional Contra la Represión (FNCR)
– 84 Maderas del Pueblo de Sureste, AC
Nicaragua
– 85 Comunidad Eclesial de Base San Pablo Apóstol
– 86 Movimiento Social Nicaraguense Otro Mundo es Posible
– 87 Consejo Nacional Indígena MONEXICO
Paraguay
– 88 Frente Social y Popular
– 89 Iniciativa Paraguaya de Integraciòn de los Pueblos
Peru
– 90 Confederación Campesina del Perú (CCP)
– 91 Confederación Nacional Agraria (CNA)
– 92 Unión de Nacionalidades Aymaras (UNCA)
– 93 Federación de Mujeres de Yauli (FEMUCAY)
– 94 Asociación Nacional de Maestros de Educación Bilingüe Intercultural (ANAMEBI)
– 95 Consejo de Productores Alpaqueros del Norte de Ayacucho (COPUCNA)
– 96 Movimiento Cumbre de los Pueblos del Perú
– 97 Sindicato Único de Choferes Cobradores del Perú (SUCHOCOP)
– 98 Grupo de Iniciativas Urbanas de Lima
– 99 Centro de Asesoria Laboral (CEDAL)
– 100 Grupo temático de Migraciones (GTM)
– 101 Asociación de Defensa de la Vida (ADEVI)
– 102 Grupo Negro Mamaine
– 103 Consejo Consultivo Laboral Andino
– 104 Instituto Laboral Andino
– 105 Programa Democracia y Transformación Global
– 106 DEMUS- Estudio para la Defensa y los Derechos de la Mujer
– 107 Marcha Mundial de las Mujeres (MMM-Perú)
– 108 Alianza Social Continental Capitulo Perú
Uruguay
– 109 REDES - Amigos de la Tierra
EUROPA
Germany
– 110 FDCL - Centro de Investigación y Documentación Chile-América Latina
– 111 ILA - Informationsstelle Lateinamerika e.V. Bonn (Centro de Información sobre América Latina - Bonn)
– 112 Eine Welt Haus e.V. München
– 113 Salva la Selva
– 114 Gruppe B.A.S.T.A.
– 115 Venezuela Avanza e.V München
– 116 Centro humanista de las culturas (Humanistisches Zentrum der Kulturen)
– 117 Circulo de amigos de Luz de luna
– 118 CAREA e.V. (Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte)
– 119 SDAJ (Juventud socialista de Alemania) de Munich
– 120 Informationsstelle Peru e.V., Freiburg
– 121 Lateinamerika Gruppe Marburg
– 122 ATTAC Alemania
Austria
– 123 Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
– 124 Attac Austria
– 125 Caracol Mundo -eco de latido en solidaridad
– 126 IGLA - Informarionsgruppe Lateinamerika (Grupo de Información sobre América Latina
Belgium
– 127 UAG - Une Autre Gauche
– 128 Comité contre l’impunité en Amérique Latine (CIDAL)
– 129 Comité pour le respect des Droits humains "Daniel Gillard"
– 130 Collectif "Venezuela 13 Avril"
– 131 Comité de Solidadridad con el Pueblo Mapuche (COMABE)
– 132 CNCD-11.11.11
– 133 KWIA, Grupo flamenco de apoyo para los pueblos indigenas
– 134 CATAPA (Comité Académico Técnico de Asesoramiento a Problemas Ambientales)
Spain
– 135 Ecologistas en Acción
– 136 Observatorio de la Deuda en la Globalización (ODG)
– 137 ACSUR Las Segovias
– 138 Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Enseñanza de Euskadi STEE-EILAS
– 139 Coordinadora de Inmigrantes Málaga
– 140 Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica de Mérida y Comarca
– 141 Soldepaz.Pachakuti
– 142 Educación para la Acción Crítica
– 143 Colectivo Sur Cacarica
– 144 Comitè de Solidaritat amb els Pobles Indígenes d’Amèrica
– 145 Ecuador Llactacaru
– 146 Comite Oscar Romero de Madrid
– 147 Asociacion de Solidaridad con Colombia"Katio"
– 148 Comunidades Cristianas Populares
– 149 Omal - Paz con Dignidad
– 150 Red de Semillas "Resembrando e Intercambiando"
– 151 Plataforma de Solidaridad con Chiapas, Oaxaca y Guatemala de Madrid
– 152 Centro de Documentación y Solidaridad con América Latina y África (CEDSALA)
– 153 ATTAC España
– 154 Grupo Antimilitarista de Bilbao
– 155 Plataforma Rural
– 156 SETEM
– 157 AlterNativa Intercambio con Pueblos Indígenas
– 158 Izquierda Unida España
Finland
– 159 ATTAC
Flanders
– 160 ATTAC FLANDERS
France
– 161 France Amérique Latine (FAL)
– 162 ATTAC Francia
– 163 CADTM - Comité pour l’annulation de la dette du tiers monde, Francia/Bélgica
– 164 Tribunal International d’Opinion
– 165 Colectivo peruanos en Francia-ANPP
– 166 Comité Pérou Universidad
– 167 AITEC
Netherands
– 168 Transnational Institute (TNI)
– 169 Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)
– 170 XminusY Solidarity Fund
– 171 Popular Mariátegui -UNIPOMA
Ireland
– 172 Latin American Solidarity Centre (LASC)
– 173 Comhlamh
Italy
– 174 SdL intercategoriale
– 175 Partido de la Refundaciòn Comunista - Izquierda Europea
– 176 Transform! Italia
– 177 Asociaciòn A Sud
– 178 Colectivo Italia-Centro America (CICA)
– 179 Fondazione Neno Zanchetta
Basque Country
– 180 Ekologistak Martxan
Portugal
– 181 SOS Racismo
– 182 Sociofonia.org (Associação para a informação por outros meios)
– 183 CIDAC (Centro de Informação e Documentação Anti-Colonial
Sweden
– 184 Solidaridad Suecia América Latina-SAL
– 185 Grupo de Apoyo a Bolivia GAB
– 186 Coordinadora del Consejo Pro Bolivia en Escandinavia
– 187 Comité de Apoyo a Bolivia de Malmö
– 188 Asociación Cultural Sueco Salvadoreña de Gotemburgo
Switzerland
– 189 Grupo de Trabajo Suiza-Colombia (Arbeitsgruppe Schweiz-Kolumbien ask)
UK
– 190 World Development Movement
– 191 Colombia Solidarity Campaign
AFRICA
Nigeria
– 192 Réseau National Dette et Développement (RNDD)
– 193 Human Rights Defenders Network (HURIDEN
South Africa
– 194 South Durban Community Environmental (SDCEA)
ASIA
Philippines
– 195 SANLAKAS
– 196 Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP)
– 197 Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (AMA) or Union of Agricultural Workers
PARLAMENTARIANS
– 1 Willy Meyer-Pleite, European parliamentarian for GUE/NGL, Vice-president of the Biregional parliamentary Assembly EUROLAT, Spain
– 2 Helmuth Markov, Member of the European Parliament GUE/NGL, president of the Trade Commission, Germany
– 3 Mikel Irujo Amezaga, Member of the European Parliament, Greens/ALE, Spain
– 4 Jens Holm, Member of the European Parliament,GUE/NGL and Member of the International Trade Committee (INTA), Sweden
– 5 Charles Santiago, Member of Parliament, Malaysia.
– 6 Heike Hänsel, Member of the German Bundestag und development policy spokeswoman of the LEFT PARTY parliamentary group
– 7 Gabriele Zimmer, Member of the European Parliament GUE/ NGL, Germany
– 8 Alain Lipietz, Member of the European Parliament Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, France
– 9 Raul Romeva, member of the European Parliament Greens/EFA, Spain
– 10 Ms. Ulrike Lunacek, Member of Parliament in Austria
