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Social justice organizations across the United States and beyond are kicking off a vibrant week of action against the failed CAFTA/NAFTA “free” trade model. 

We encourage NISGUA activists to participate in anti-CAFTA/NAFTA events, and we’d love to hear from you if you are involved!  

Contact us if you are able to bring our letter campaign in support of community referendums in Guatemala and/or NISGUA calendars to these or other events by emailing bridget@nisgua.org. 

Scroll down to view a list of events nationwide, compiled by Witness for Peace.

 

Actions by Region

NEW ENGLAND

Screening: Roots of Migration; Clark University
950 Main Street, Worcester, MA
Lisa Grandia: lgrandia@clark.edu

Screening: Roots of Migration; Boston College
140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA
Michael Malec: malec@bc.edu

Screening: Roots of Migration; Bridgewater State College
131 Summer St, Bridgewater, MA
Jonathan White: jonathan.white@bridgew.edu

Screening: Roots of Migration; WFP-Northeast, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Oct. 18, 10am; 273 Vermont Rte 15, Jericho, VT
Joanne: wfpne@witnessforpeace.org

MID-ATLANTIC

Demonstration: Rally for Immigration Reform, "Root Cause" Trade Justice Bloc
Oct. 13, 2:30pm; Spirit of Justice Park, C St and South Capitol, Washington, DC
Join our "Root Cause" contingent of this immigrants' rights demonstration, organized by the National Capital Immigrant Coalition, to say no to NAFTA-style trade that forces migration.
www.ncicmetro.org/oct13/index.php  ; Ben: 202-403-1752

Street Theater: NAFTA = Forced Migration, WFP-MidAtlantic
Oct. 12, 12:00pm;  Columbia Heights Metro, Washington, DC
In this silent tableau, we'll dramatize NAFTA's impact by personifying ICE agents, displaced campesinos, and corn-throwing US agribusiness.
witnessforpeace.org/downloads/10-12%20Tableau.pdf ; Ben: 202-403-1752

Street Theater: NAFTA = Forced Migration, WFP-MidAtlantic
Oct. 13, 8:30am;  Capitol South Metro, Washington, DC
In this silent tableau, we'll dramatize NAFTA's impact by personifying ICE agents, displaced campesinos, and corn-throwing US agribusiness.
witnessforpeace.org/downloads/10-12%20Tableau.pdf; Ben: 202-403-1752

Briefing: Investment Rules in Trade Agreements -- Who Benefits? The Case of Mining in El Salvador
Institute for Policy Studies, Oxfam America, Washington Office on Latin America
Oct. 15, 1-2:30pm; 340 Cannon House Office Building, 15 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC
Representatives of El Salvador's National Roundtable on Mining, which has successfully blocked destructive mining permits, will speak about the investor-state suits that US and Canadian mining companies recently filed against El Salvador under CAFTA.
Manuel: mperezrocha@yahoo.com.mx

Screening: Roots of Migration; WFP-MidAtlantic, Institute for Policy Studies
Oct. 4, 8pm;  Busboys and Poets, 1025 5th Street NW, Washington, DC
www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=OQJIENCSCKIUSPKAJIHH&li=iq&src=email&trk=aei6 ; Julia: 202-494-0560

Screening: Roots of Migration; Public Anthropology Conference, American University
Oct. 10, 3:40-5:30pm;  Mary Graydon Center 245, 4400 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC
Part of the film series "Advancing Social Justice in Times of Crisis"
http://american.edu/cas/anthropology/public/upload/2009-films-flyer.pdf  pine@american.edu

Screening: Roots of Migration
Washington, DC
Micki: mickisuchenski@hotmail.com

Tour: Why We Migrate--Stories of Mexico's Displaced, WFP-MidAtlantic
Oct. 12-30 ; DC, MD, DE, PA, NY, NJ
Paola Gutierrez Galindo, a community organizer from Oaxaca, will speak at over 40 events to tell the role that NAFTA played in forcing the vast majority of her community, and 90% of her own family, to migrate north. 
witnessforpeace.org/midatlantic ; Ben: wfpma@witnessforpeace.org

Tour: La Mesa Nacional frente a la Minería Metálica
Institute for Policy Studies, CISPES, Oxfam America, Washington Office on Latin America
October;  Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia
The Mesa Nacional is speaking in numerous events to build support for a law in El Salvador that bans gold mining, defeat the suit that US gold mining companies have filed against El Salvador's government, denounce the climate of violence against community organizers, and work towards the repeal and replacement of DR-CAFTA.
Manuel: mperezrocha@yahoo.com.mx

Screening: Roots of Migration, Friends of Brook Park
Oct. 10, Dusk; Brook Park, East 141st Street and Brook Ave, South Bronx, NY
Harry: 646-648-4362

March: Stop the Mining, Support Indigenous Rights; Trade Justice NY Metro
Oct. 12, 11:30am; New York, NY
We join in solidarity with indigenous people of Ecuador in protesting invasive mining projects that trample indigenous rights and perpetuate the destructive "free trade" model.
www.tradejustice.net; info@tradejustice.net

Street theater: NAFTA Makes Us Sick! ; Global Justice for Animals and the Environment
Oct. 12; New York, NY
Come highlight the link between NAFTA, factory farms, and swine flu by dressing as anti-NAFTA pigs outside of congressional offices.
freetradekillsanimals.org/?page=NAFTASick;  info@freetradekillsanimals.org

SOUTHEAST

Retreat: Roots of Migration, WFP-Southeast
Oct. 9-10;  Chapel Hill, NC
A retreat to learn about the roots of migration, connect with each other, and rest a little.
http://home.roadrunner.com/~rrslatta/CITCA/docs/retreat09.pdf  ;  Gail: witnessforpeacese@gmail.com

Screening: Roots of Migration; WFP-Southeast, Durham Friends Meeting
Oct. 23, 6:30-8:30pm;  404 Alexander Ave, Durham, NC
Join us for the film screening, a panel discussion, and a potluck dinner!
http://home.roadrunner.com/~rrslatta/CITCA/docs/roots_oct09.htm  ;  Nikki: 919.699.8207

Tour: Nicaragua Speaker's Tour; WFP-Southeast
Oct. 4-25;  VA, NC, SC, KY
Eddy Gutierrez Zavala of the Confederation of Jalapa’s Agricultural Cooperatives is touring the SE Region to highlight how CAFTA has exacerbated poverty and provoked migration in Nicaragua.
Gail: witnessforpeacese@gmail.com

WEST COAST/SOUTHWEST

Protest: Drop NAFTA and CAFTA,  Committee In Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
Oct. 15, 5-8pm;  Union Square (Powell St., between Geary and Post), San Francisco, CA
Join us for Obama’s visit to San Francisco--let him know that we want him to keep his campaign promise to change the NAFTA model!
bayareacispes@yahoo.com

March: Roots of Migration, Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition
Oct. 10, 10am;  Olympic and Broadway, Los Angeles, CA
Join our contingent to highlight unfair trade as a root cause of forced migration.
Tanya: wfpsw@witnessforpeace.org, 805-421-9708

Party: Trade Action Day House Party; WFP-Southwest
Oct. 12, 5:30-7:30pm;  Ojai, CA
BBQ corn cobs, short film screening and report back from No More Deaths Arizona border volunteering.
Tanya: wfpsw@witnessforpeace.org, 805-421-9708

Bazaar: Fair Trade Fair
Arizona Fair Trade Coalition, Alianza Indigenous Cin Fronteras, and No More Deaths
Oct. 11, 2pm-6pm;  Armory Park, Tucson, AZ
The Fair Trade Fair is a community event, bringing non-profits together in a festive environment to share and spread information about Fair Trade and indigenous rights.
Sasha:  arizonaftc@gmail.com; (520) 450-3770

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Protest: Unite Against Mining Exploitation in El Salvador, Portland CISPES
Oct. 16, 2pm;  Pacific Rim Mining Offices, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Come as a Pacific Northwest bloc to Vancouver, BC to participate in an international protest against the Pacific Rim Mining Corporation--we demand an end to the recent assassinations of anti-mining activists in El Salvador and an end to the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which is destroying communities and the environment throughout Central America.
http://www.pcasc.net/pdx-cispes.php  ;  seacispes@igc.org

Screening: Roots of Migration;  WFP-Northwest, Tierra Nueva
Oct. 12, 7pm;  701 E. Fairhaven, Burlington, WA
Witness for Peace & Tierra Nueva invite you to an evening of pozole, Roots of Migration movie, and discussion about the affects of NAFTA!
Bethany Dearborn: bethany.dearborn@gmail.com

Tour: Corn Not Coca,  WFP-Northwest
Oct. 12-23;  WA, MT, ID, OR
Rafael Coicue, coordinator for the human rights department of ACIN (Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca), will speak about Plan Colombia and Free Trade Agreements through the lens of the non-violent indigenous social movements organizing against them.
http://witnessforpeace.live.radicaldesigns.org/article.php?id=823  ;  Colette: wfpnw@witnessforpeace.org

MIDWEST

Screening: Roots of Migration; Northern Illinois University College of Law
Oct. 12;  Chicago, IL
Sara: saraphalen@yahoo.com

Screening: Roots of Migration;  WFP-Upper Midwest
Oct. 2, 7pm;  Resource Center of the Americas, 3019 Minnehaha Ave, Minneapolis, MN
Robyn: wfpumw@witnessforpeace.org

Theater: NAFTA--Telling It Like It Is;  St Joan of Arc Church
Minneapolis, MN
A play in which participants embody NAFTA’s 15-year legacy.
Robyn: wfpumw@witnessforpeace.org

Protest: Unite Against Mining Exploitation in El Salvador; CISPES
Oct. 16; Commerce Group Headquarters, Milwaukee, WI
Protest CAFTA and mining exploitation at the headquarters of a US mining company currently suing El Salvador under CAFTA.
Erik: sperling.erik@gmail.com

INTERNATIONAL

March: Dia de la Raza; Mexican Network Against Free Trade
Mexico City, Mexico
A trade justice bloc will form part of a larger indigenous march to call for the replacement of the NAFTA model.

March: Replace the Failed NAFTA Model;  Quebec Network on Continental Integration
Oct. 12;  Universidad de Québec en Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
March with our trade justice bloc for the replacement of the NAFTA model (part of a larger Quebec Social Forum march)
http://forumsocialquebecois.org/en

Panel: Replacing the free trade model;  Quebec Network on Continental Integration, Common Frontiers
Oct. 10, 2:30pm;  Room R-R140, Universidad de Québec en Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
As part of the Quebec Social Forum, this workshop will dissect the role the "free trade" model has played in the current crisis and offer some steps towards replacing it.
http://forumsocialquebecois.org/en  ;  rqic@ciso.qc.ca

Conference: NAFTA's Future;  Common Frontiers
Nov. 2-3;  Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The conference to analyze NAFTA's future will coincide with a parallel event in Toronto slated to include former Presidents Fox, Chretien and Bush.
www.commonfrontiers.ca  ;  comfront@web.ca

Webinar: Trading Profit for Justice;  Grassroots International
Oct. 15, 7pm EDT;  Online
Join us online to explore the human impact of free trade and community-centered alternatives.
Saulo: saraujo@grassrootsonline.org

 

International Trade Action Day has been organized in solidarity with these parallel hemispheric actions calling for a more just economic model:

Global Mobilization for Mother Earth
October 12-16
Fulfilling the mandate of the 4th Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of Abya Yala, we CALL FOR the Global Minga*/Mobilization in Defense of Mother Earth and the Peoples, against the commodification of life (foodstuffs, water, biodiversity, natural goods); contamination and depredation (by mining, hydrocarbons, hydroelectric projects, logging, cattle ranches, agrofuels, GMOs); consumerism and criminalization of social struggle; and for setting up the Tribunal of Climate Justice.
Organizing groups: Coordinadora Andina de Organizaciones Indígenas / Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica / Consejo Indígena de Centro América / Movimiento de los Trabajadores Rurales Sin Tierra / Conferència de Nacions sense Estat d'Europa / IV Cumbre Continental de Pueblos y Nacionalidades Indígenas del Abya Yala / Indigenous, autochthonous, farmers', environmentalists and social movements of America, Africa, Asia and Europe.
http://www.movimientos.org/defensamadretierra/show_text.php3?key=15835

Week of Global Action Against Debt and the International Finance Institutions
October 12-18
No More False Solutions:  People and the Planet  need Debt Cancellation and Reparations, NOW! 
Organizing groups: the Jubilee network (Jubilee South, Jubilee USA, etc.)
www.jubileesouth.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=254&Itemid=2
www.jubileeusa.org/get-active/get-involved/standup0.html

Workers United Across Borders Against NAFTA and Free Trade
October 5
At the US-Canada International Ambassador Bridge and at the US-Mexico Hidalgo-McAllen-Reynoss International Bridge, workers from the Mexico, the United States, and Canada will come together to protest NAFTA and “free trade.” 
Organizing groups: United Auto Workers, Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras
http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/cjmworkersunite