October 12, 2002

International Day of Action Against the Second Colonization of the Americas

The Latin America Solidarity Coalition in alliance with the American Indian Movement and the International Indian Treaty Council, call for local actions on October 12, the 510th anniversary of the first invasion of the Americas to demand:

1. No to the Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement

2. No to Plan Colombia/Andean Initiative

3. Close the School of the Americas/WHISC

4. Close US military bases in Vieques and throughout Latin America

5. End the Drug War's assault on people of color and the poor

6. Free Leonard Peltier and all indigenous political prisoners

7. Respect indigenous treaty, land, and cultural rights

8. Bring to justice those responsible for the genocide in Guatemala

To add your organization to the endorsers of this call, send an email with your organization name and contact person to: lasc@afgj.org .

The Latin America Solidarity Coalition (LASC) is a coalition of national and local US grassroots groups working in solidarity with civil society, popular movements, and progressive forces throughout Latin America and the Caribbean to oppose US military and economic intervention and to support the right to self determination and autonomy for all peoples. AIM and the International Indian Treaty Council are progressive organizations working to defend the rights of First Peoples in the US and throughout the hemisphere.

On October 12, 2002 local coalitions are organizing actions at Federal Buildings, FBI and INS offices, military installations and contractors, trade offices, multinational corporations such as Nike, Monsanto, Citibank, and others. We welcome simultaneous actions throughout the Americas on that day focused on the institutions of US government and corporate colonization.

Creative actions are encouraged. Speakers are available from AIM, the Treaty Council, and several members of the LASC can provide speakers from Latin America and the Caribbean. AIM's web radio will broadcast live reports from local actions on October 12. A complete organizer's packet including a sample flyer and fact sheets on each of the demands will be available by mid-July on the LASC web page http://www.americas.org/LASC>www.americas.org/L ASC. If you or your organization is willing to take responsibility for organizing a local action or pulling together a local coalition, send us an email at LASC@afgj.org so that we can be in direct touch.

The first colonization of the Americas began in 1492. It was built on the backs of Indian and African slaves as well as European indentured servants forced by poverty and injustice to become colonizers themselves. It was enforced by the military might of Europe for the benefit of European elites. First the freedom, then the land and resources, and finally the very the cultural identity was stolen from the First Nations and those Africans ripped from their homelands. Genocide and disease decimated Indian populations and the slave trade destroyed thriving cultures in Africa and the Americas.

Today, corporate globalization and US imperialism constitute the second colonization of the Americas. Free Trade agreements such as NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement) CAFTA (Central America FTA), and the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) transfer vast wealth from Latin America and the Caribbean to the United States while forcing millions off their land and into slave-like sweatshop jobs. Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP), a vast transportation and development scheme will accelerate environmental destruction, trample indigenous land and cultural rights, and force millions off the land and into degrading sweatshop jobs. IMF and World Bank structural adjustment policies cause hunger, disease, and ignorance by forcing governments to prioritize debt payments over health, education, and welfare for their people. US overt and covert military interventions deny people the right to self-determination.

Military training programs such as the Army School of the Americas (now called Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) train Latin American elites to repress their own people. US military bases and training in Vieques, Puerto Rico, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and other countries threaten the lives and health of the local populations. Cuba has valiantly struggled for 43 years to protect its autonomy against US imperialism. Other countries such as Nicaragua, Chile, and Jamaica have not been so fortunate. It is yet to be seen whether the people of Venezuela or the colonizers will prevail in that country. In Colombia and throughout the Andean region the US phony war on drugs has exacerbated local conflicts and has targeted people of color and the poor both in Latin America and the United States.

As with the first colonization, the impact of the second colonization falls most heavily on indigenous peoples, survivors of the African diaspora, and the poor in rural communities and cities alike. Indigenous leaders such as AIM activist Leonard Peltier are jailed or murdered. Guatemala's Mayans suffered genocide as did North American First Nations before them, and Colombia's U'wa are threatened today with genocide for standing against oil interests. Indians and peasants in Central America and Mexico are subjected to violent expulsion from their land to make way for corporate megaprojects such as the canals, dams, and railroads envisioned by Plan Puebla-Panama and oil and timber exploitation throughout the hemisphere. Even what little Indian land is left in the United States is threatened whenever government or corporations determine that they need it for such uses as storing waste from the nuclear power industry. Meanwhile, corporations such as MacDonalds, Nike, and the US entertainment industry impose US culture and repress ancient cultures in the name of the almighty dollar.

For over 500 years the people of the Americas have been fighting back. On October 12, 2002 we call on all people of conscience to join together and vow to work untiringly for an end to US military and economic intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean and for a people's globalization of solidarity, self-determination, autonomy, and free movement of people. We support Fair Trade, respect for our neighbors, slashing military and prison budgets while increasing social safety nets and drug treatment programs. We support peace with justice and systems that place opportunity for families ahead of corporate greed.

SPONSORS:

Latin America Solidarity Coalition

American Indian Movement

International Indian Treaty Council

ENDORSERS: (random order)

Nicaragua Network


CISPES - Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador


Kwame Ture Work-Study Institute and Library


Mexico Solidarity Network


Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA)


Comit/ for A New Colombia