Student Activists Converge on Washington to Promote Trade Justice
"We're amazed and inspired by the enthusiasm to support fair trade. We are even more committed to providing reliable information and organizing tools necessary to build a movement to stop the FTAA." Oxfam's Make Trade Fair Campaign Organizer Brian Rawson
More than 150 student activists attended a special conference in Washington, DC to learn about the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and other international trade issues as part of Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign. The students, from over 60 campuses in 30 states, form a crucial body of campaigners who are setting out to educate others about the problem of unfair trade and the potential the FTAA has to further impoverish millions in the hemisphere.
The conference was convened by Oxfam America, Global Justice, and United Students for Fair Trade and was held from October 24-27.
The students spent the weekend learning about the rigged rules and double standards of international trade, particularly the proposed FTAA rules related to agriculture, investment, and intellectual property that form the basis for Oxfam's opposition to the agreement. The students also engaged in training sessions, building the skills they need to educate others and influence decisions makers on international trade issues such as the FTAA.
The FTAA, if established, will create a massive free trade zone for 800 million people from Canada to Chile. Although increased trade between countries could be beneficial to the majority of poor people in this area, the trade policies contained in the FTAA will further entrench unfair practices such as commodity dumping, which forces down agricultural prices and puts farmers out of business here in the US and in developing countries. The FTAA's intellectual property rules will make essential medicines too expensive for poor people in Latin America and the Caribbean, and make it difficult for them to access generic medicines to treat AIDS, tuberculosis, and other serious diseases. Students also learned about how the FTAA's proposed investment rules will funnel profits out of developing countries and endanger the rights of workers and the environment.
The conference workshops were taught by leading policy analysts and advocates from Oxfam and partner organizations. Featured speakers and presenters included Thea Lee, Assistant Director for International Economics at the AFL-CIO, George Naylor, President of the National Family Farm Coalition, Anna Lappé, Author of "Hope's Edge" and many others from organizations such as the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the Mineral Policy Center, Global Exchange, the Student Global AIDS Campaign, Institute for Policy Studies, Women's Edge, Rainforest Action Network, and Agricultural Missions.
On Sunday night nearly 50 of the students attended a special workshop on lobbying, and spent the following day meeting with members of the House of Representatives. They directly applied the information and skills they learned over the weekend when they met with over 80 congressional offices on Capitol Hill, interacting with staff members from the offices such as Democratic minority leader Nancy Pelosi from California and Republican Chris Shays from Connecticut. The students discussed the drawbacks of the US-led effort to promote free trade agreements, and urged the representatives to vote against trade agreements that don't reduce poverty.
The conference and lobbying day launched a special National Student Week of Action against the FTAA, and the participants went back to their respective colleges and universities committed to staging events to teach others about the need to harness trade to work for development. "I am working with over 100 students to mobilize and express our strong opposition to the FTAA and the Central America Free Trade Agreement. We are organizing events on campus throughout the year to raise awareness about the need to make trade fair, including a campus wide referendum against the FTAA!" explained Veronica Crespin, a student leader from the University of Colorado.
According to Oxfam's Make Trade Fair Campaign Organizer Brian Rawson, the conference was a pivotal event in the growing student movement against the FTAA. "We're amazed and inspired by the enthusiasm to support fair trade," he said. "We are even more committed to providing reliable information and organizing tools necessary to build a movement to stop the FTAA."