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APPENDIX 1: Brief history of Peoples' Global Action
###################################################
PGA has been one of the principal instigators of the new global, radical,
anticapitalist movement which today is challenging the legitimacy of global
governance institutions. Demonstrations and 'countersummits' during
international reunions already have a long tradition. The originality of
PGA has been to call for Global Days of Action (GDA), local actions all
around the world during these events, so that the local and daily
resistance of grass roots movements be recognised as a common and radical
refusal of the existing economic order and as the real force capable of
changing the course of history and proposing local alternatives. In less
than three years, this new movement - by demonstrating in the streets and
breaking the law - has largely delegitimised WTO/IMF/WB and allowed popular
organisations to be heard. The NGOs, etc., that had claimed to speak in the
name of 'civil society' have had to take more radical positions. The WTO,
IMF and WB have lost important ideological battles and have been obliged to
slow down their offensive.
Paradoxically, the growing success of these calls for local mobilisations
(there were demonstrations in 110 cities around the world during the Global
Day of Action of September 26, during the IMF/WB assembly in Prague), by
spurring a new anticapitalist movement in the North, has also multiplied
the capacity for central mobilisations in the places where the summits of
global institutions take place. At the epicentre of each GDA there have
been ever larger and more determined mobilisations. Adopting the
confrontational perspective and forms of action advocated by PGA, these
central demonstrations first tarnished and finally seriously perturbed
various assemblies of the 'empire': in Geneva ('riots' during the 2nd WTO
summit in May 1998), London (paralysis of the financial centre, June 18,
1999), Seattle (blockade of the 3rd WTO summit, November 30, 1999) and
Prague (blockade and hurried adjournment of the IMF/WB assembly, 26
September 2000).
That is not to say that these events were directly organised by PGA. That
would be to misunderstand the originality and the force of a process that
develops as a network, with more and more connected centres of initiative
that maintain their complete autonomy and define their own identity. The
initiative for issuing the calls for action and organising the central
blockades came each time from an autonomous group that was connected to the
network (Reclaim the Streets in London, Direct Action Network in Seattle,
Solidaritŕ-INPEG in Prague, etc), calls that were then relayed by the
convenors and the rest of the network.
The idea of PGA has not only created a network capable of coordinated
action. It has also contributed to triggering a much larger movement. This
year, no institution of global governance (Climate conference, G8, ASEAN,
the World Economic Forum, NATO, TABD, etc.) could meet anywhere without a
coalition of local movements coming together to attack them. As a
consequence, some of these institutions are starting to face serious
problems to find a city to meet, since nobody wants to cover the repression
costs and the damage of public image that they bring with them. This larger
movement, evolving spontaneously, has assumed some of the functions that
PGA tried to assure before (see for example the role of the activist
information network Indymedia). However, within this larger movement, PGA
continues to offer an essential space for coordination and political
debate. A common space where questions like these can be discussed: Global
Days of Action have been an incredible success, but what are their
limitations? What opportunities have they opened? What kind of
counter-offensive are they triggering from the side of the state, and how
can we neutralise it? What is the next step?
The trepidating history of PGA
In August 1997, representatives of grassroots movements from the south and
north of the world met to prepare resistance against the 2nd ministerial
conference of the WTO (that was going to take place in may 98 in Geneva
with the objective of commemorating the 50th anniversary of GATT), and to
develop tools that would give continuity to the communication and
coordination among those who fight against the WTO and other 'free' trade
agreements. The meeting took place in El Indiano (Spain) immediately after
the Second Intercontinental Meeting for Humanity and against Neoliberalism
organised by the European Zapatista support network. At that meeting the
idea of PGA as a network-process was born and it was decided to convene a
conference to create it in Geneva in February 98.
Over 300 representatives from the grassroots movements of 71 countries and
all continents met in Geneva from 23 to 25 February for the founding
conference of the PGA. Teachers on hunger strikes against the privatisation
of education in Argentina met with women organised in the struggle against
slave labour in the 'maquilas' in Mexico, Bangladesh, El Salvador and
Nicaragua; peasants fighting against globalisation in India, the
Philippines, Brasil, Estonia, Norway, Honduras, France, Spain, Switzerland,
Senegal, Mozambique, Toga, Peru, Bolivia, Columbia and many other
countries; Ogonis, Maoris, Mayas, Aymaras and other indigenous peoples
fighting for their cultural rights and their physical survival; women and
men fighting against patriarchal societies; students fighting against
nuclear energy and the repression of strikers in Ukraine and South Korea;
Canadian postal workers fighting against the privatisation of postal
services; militant protesters against the business corporations in the
United States; ecologists, the unemployed, fisherfolk, anti-racists,
pacifists... This world meeting of men and women working in grassroots
movements was an incredible experience which gave us energy, hope and
determination. Despite great material differences, the fights are
increasingly similar in every part of the global empire, setting the stage
for a new and stronger sort of solidarity. This conference was a good
example of this new form of solidarity, since it was made possible largely
thanks to the social centres and 'alternative' scene in Geneva.
The first Global Day of Action against 'free' trade took place during the
G8 Summit in Birmingham and the WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva, and
they were a great success: over 65 demonstrations (including one of several
hundred thousand farmers in India), actions and street parties took place
all over the world from the 16th to 20th of May in 29 countries; In Geneva
itself, about 10,000 people mobilised in the biggest demonstration of
solidarity in many years. Demonstrations and civil disobedience stole the
media spotlight from the summit despite massive arrests.
At a meeting of the convenors' committee (Finland, September 98), the
second conference of the PGA was programmed to take place in India several
months before the third Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Seattle (USA).
At this meeting, the convenors also endorsed two other large projects for
the first half of 1999: the Inter-Continental Caravan for Solidarity and
Resistance (from 22 May to 20 June) and the Global Day of Action against
the financial centres on June 18th.
The Intercontinental Caravan for solidarity and resistance brought together
in Western Europe 450 representatives of grassroots movements from the
South and East of the world. The majority came from India (farmers'
organisations, fisherfolk, the indigenous Adivasis and anti-dam movements).
There were also representatives of the 'Sem Terra' landless farmers'
movement of Brazil, Zapatista support groups from Mexico, the landless
women's movement of Bangladesh, the mothers of Plaza de Mayo from
Argentina, the Mapuche people of Chile, the Process of Black Communities
>from Columbia, environmental organisations from the Ukraine, human rights
organisations from Nepal, etc. The groups that received the Caravan in
Europe included organisations of the unemployed, groups fighting genetic
engineering, squatted social centres, feminist organisations, etc., who
invited the caravan participants to over 12 countries.
Actions during the Caravan included demonstrations against the headquarters
of multinational groups such as Novartis, Monsanto, Cargill, Nestlč and
others; against detention centres for migrants; against the NATO base in
Aviano (from which they were bombing Serbia, excepting the day when it was
taken over by the caravan); against the headquarters of institutions such
as the WTO, NATO, the European Central Bank, the FAO, etc. Direct action
done during the Caravan included the destruction of two experimental fields
planted with genetically modified crops and of a the complete collection
genetically modified rice in a state laboratory, in collaboration with the
French Peasant Confederation. The Caravan culminated in Cologne for the
protest against the World Summit on economy, also known as the G8 Summit.
On June 18th, Global Day of Action against the financial centres, the first
day of the G8 Summit, more than 50 decentralised actions took place all
over the world. Movements participating were as diverse as the Chikoko
Movement of Nigeria (where 10.000 people blocked the Shell building with a
'carnival of the oppressed'), the Pakistani trade unions (which were
terribly repressed, the organisers were tortured and charged with treason),
several social movements of Mexico (who picketed the stock exchange), and a
wide-ranging group of social movements in London (where 10.000 people took
over the financial centre and paralysed it the entire day), openly
demonstrating their refusal of the G8 regime. Such a co-ordinated
resistance in 41 countries showed that the process of convergence of
different resistances was gaining strength and speed.
In August 99 the second PGA conference took place in Bangalore (India).
This conference changed the character of PGA by broadening the focus of its
activities. Until then, the identity of PGA had been defined by its
opposition to neoliberal institutions and treaties. In Bangalore it was
decided by unanimity to redefine it as anticapitalist network, a space to
communicate and coordinate globally not only against the treaties and
institutions that regulate the capitalist development, but also around the
social and environmental problems that it provokes. The conference also
showed enthusiasm for the proposals of global action on November 30th 99
and Mayday 2000.
Already before the Bangalore conference, when the WTO announced that it
would hold its 3rd summit in Seattle, various groups from Vancouver to Los
Angeles (several of which had participated in earlier GDAs and were
inspired by the success of the demonstration of June 18 in the City of
London) formed the Direct Action Network (DAN). Adopting the principles of
PGA, they announced their intention to block the opening of the summit. On
November 30 1999, 10 000 young activists successfully blocked the 13
accesses to the summit. Hundreds of trade unionists decided to disobey the
orders of their reformist bureaucracies and joined the direct actions and
the civil disobedience. This historical success, that resulted in the
categorical failure of the WTO conference, gave new hope and determination
to people all over the world, who thus discovered that there is also
resistance in the heart of the 'empire'. Simultaneously, demonstrations
occurred in over 60 different cities around the world.
For the Assembly of the IMF/WB in Prague, a call for global action and for
a massive central demonstration on September 26th was distributed by Czech
organisations which had participated in previous GDAs. The European network
that was formed by the Inter-Continental Caravan and the PGA convenors of
each continent seconded this call, which was echoed by demonstrations in
110 different cities of the world. In Prague, thousands came from as far
away as Spain, Italy, Norway, Poland, Greece and Turkey. On S26, the
opening day of the summit, 15 to 20 thousand demonstrators besieged the
assembly for hours. Delegates attempting to leave were injured and were
finally evacuated by underground. The second day many preferred to stay in
the safety of their hotels while the remainder voted to cancel the third
day of meetings... This victory, won in the face of 11000 police, also
marked the fall of the Berlin wall for the anticapitalist movement. A new
generation of activists from the Czech republic, Poland, Hungary, etc. said
what they thought of their supposed 'free world', ten years after freeing
themselves from the communist oppression.
Parallel to these activities, the idea of PGA has materialised itself in
the development of links between movements, organisations and activists at
regional level. A regional meeting of Latin-American social movements was
held in April 2000 in Nicaragua. A South Asian meeting took place in
Bangladesh in September 2000. A gender workshop and an emergency meeting on
the Colombia Plan also brought together representatives of Andean and
Central American movements in November 2000. Regional meetings are soon
going to be held in Europe (24-25 March 2001 in Milano) and North America
(1-3 June 2001 in Massachusetts).
(For more information on PGA activities, see www.agp.org)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
APPENDIX 2: Convenors of the Third International Conference of PGA
##################################################################
The current composition of the convenors committee is:
* CONFEUNASSC-CNC (Confederación Única Nacional de Afiliados al Seguro
Social Campesino - Consejo Nacional Campesino): Ecuatorian peasant movement
that protagonised several uprisings in a country severely affected by
neoliberal policies. <ssc-cnc@campesinos-flmgt.org.ec>
* MJK (Movimiento de la Juventud Kuna): Since decades, one of the
organisational backbones of the Kuna, an indigenous people of Panama with a
long history of resistance that won autonomy early in the century.
<mjkuna@hotmail.com>
* FNT: Union federation from Nicaragua that includes the Sandinist central
and other unions. <mujercst@nicarao.org.ni>
* ONECA/ODECO: Organisation of the descendants of enslaved Africans from
Central America who created free communities in the rainforests. Part of
the Afro-American Network, present in almost all Latin American countries.
<odeco@caribe.hn>
* Aoteoroa Educators: training branch of the inter-tribal Maori
independence movement, called Tino-Rangatiratanga. <teanau@tki.org.nz>
* Krishok Federation: federation of peasants and landless agricultural
workers from Bangladesh, that has since decades fought against the green
revolution technologies introduced by the agribusiness and against
mega-projects of capitalist development. <gbs@bangla.net>
* MONLAR - Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform from Sri
Lanka. Has fought for years against the World Bank/IMF policies in that
country. <monlar@sltnet.lk>
* Ya Basta!: One of the strongest links in the Zapatista support network,
also very active in the struggle against NATO imperialism in the Balkans
and for the rights of illegal immigrants and against GMOs. They have
participated massively in the recent mobilizations against globalization in
Europe (Prague, Nice, etc.) <yabasta@tin.it>
Acting convenors:
Provisional acting convenors for North America are the Tampa Bay Action
Group <oneworldnow@att.net> and the Convergence des Luttes
Anti-Capitalistes from Montreal <clac@tao.ca> and <m205526@er.uqam.ca>; the
final convenors will be elected when the North American PGA meeting takes
place. Similarly, Rainbow Keepers <rk@lavrik.ryazan.ru> (a network of
radical anarcho-ecologist action in Eastern Europe and the former soviet
republics in Asia) will act as convenors for Eastern Europe and Eurasia.
There are currently no convenors for Africa and East Asia. This is due to
problems in the convening process for the 2nd PGA conference, and this
situation should get corrected at the 3rd conference.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
APPENDIX 3: PGA Manifesto
#########################
(Due to its length, it is not included in the email version of this
brochure. You can find it in the web page, at www.???????????????)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
APPENDIX 4: Organisational principles of the Peoples' Global Action (PGA)
#########################################################################
1. The PGA is an instrument for co-ordination, not an organisation. Its
main objectives are:
(i) Inspiring the greatest possible number of persons and organisations to
act against corporate domination through non-violent civil disobedience and
people-oriented constructive actions.
(ii) Offering an instrument for co-ordination and mutual support at global
level for those resisting corporate rule and the capitalist development
paradigm.
(iii) Giving more international projection to the struggles against
economic liberalisation and global capitalism.
2. The organisational philosophy of the PGA is based on decentralisation
and autonomy. Hence, central structures are minimal.
3. The PGA has no membership.
4. The PGA does not have and will not have a juridical personality. It will
not be legalised or registered in any country. No organisation or person
represents the PGA, nor does the PGA represent any organisation or person.
5. There will be conferences of the PGA approximately every two years.
These conferences will take place about three months before the WTO
Ministerial Conferences. The functions of these conferences will be:
(i) Updating the manifesto (if necessary)
(ii) Advancing in the process of co-ordination at global level of the
resistance against "free" trade
(iii) Co-ordinating decentralised actions parallel to the following WTO
Ministerial Conference
6. The conferences of the PGA will be convened by a Convenors' Committee
conformed by representative organisations and movements. The composition of
this committee must show a regional balance, and a balance regarding the
areas of work of the organisations and movements that conform it. The local
organisers will be part of the committee.
This committee will fulfil the following tasks:
(i) Determining the programme of the conference
(ii) Deciding which organisations can send delegates to the conference
(iii) Deciding about the use of resources; especially, deciding which
organisations will receive help to pay the travel expenses to attend the
conference
(iv) Advising the local organisers in technical and organisational questions
(v) Interpreting the manifesto if this would be necessary, deciding which
publications can be printed under the name of the PGA, and deciding about
the content of the information tools of the PGA (see point 7)
The committee cannot speak in the name of the PGA.
In each conference of the PGA the Convenors' Committee of the next
conference will be elected. The Convenors' Committee must change 100% of
its membership in each conference. The old Convenors' Committee will choose
a small group that will act as advisers of the new committee. This advisory
group will not have decision-making power.
7. The PGA should have several information tools, including a regular
bulletin, a web page and other publications, which will be done voluntarily
by organisations and individuals supportive of the aims of the PGA. Their
elaboration will take place in a decentralised and rotative manner. Before
these informative materials appear under the name of the PGA, their
contents have to be revised by the Convenors' Committee (including the
modifications of the web page). The committee can make the publication of
these materials conditional on the modification or removal of part of its
contents, if these are in conflict with the manifesto of the PGA.
8. The PGA will not have any resources. The funds needed to pay the
conferences and the information tools will have to be raised in a
decentralised way. All the funds raised for the conference will be
administered by the Convenors' Committee. The publications will have to be
self-financed. The bulletin will be distributed by a network of
organisations which will also be responsible for collecting subscription
fees. Any surplus produced by the subscriptions will be used to send the
bulletin to organisations that cannot afford paying subscription.
9. The PGA has a rotative secretariat, which changes every year. Each
Convenors' Committee will decide where the secretariats will be during
their two-years term.
10. The conferences of the PGA will not include the discussion of these
organisational principles in the programme. If there is a concrete request,
a discussion group on organisational questions will be formed. This
discussion group will meet parallel to the programme of the conference, to
elaborate concrete modification proposals which shall be voted upon in the
plenary.
11. The PGA hopes that it will inspire the creation of different platforms
(both regional and issue-based) against "free" trade and the different
institutions that promote it. There will not be, however, a relationship of
pertenence between these platforms and the PGA. The platforms will hence be
completely autonomous.
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