International Forums Held in 2003 in Washington and Miami on Impacts of Free Trade in Mexico

Between 2000 and 2002, as part of the Border Trade and Environment Project, and in conjunction with partner organizations in Mexico, and the U.S., TCPS produced a series of reports examining how various issues - from hazardous waste to water management to forestry - are linked to NAFTA and U.S./Mexico economic integration. These reports found that in some cases NAFTA had exacerbated existing environmental and social problems. In addition, in 2003, we held a series of forums to highlight these concerns. Our aim is to increase public awareness of these issues, and of the performance of binational and trinational environmental institutions set up in part to "mitigate" the impacts of free trade.We are currently assessing what role TCPS will play in these issues in 2004 and beyond.

On April 4, 2003, we participated in a conference in Hermosillo, Sonora on Water Management in Hydrographic Basins. Organized principally by the Federal Water Commission and the University of Sonora, TCPS made a presentation in Spanish on Free Trade, Water and Basin Management. Click here for a copy of the power point presentation)

On June 20, 2003, the Texas Center for Policy Studies, in conjunction with World Wildlife Fund, Fronteras Comunes, Pesticide Action Network, Fronteras Comunes and Global Development and Environment Institute --Tufts University, sponsored a one-day workshop entitled "Towards Sustainable Trade in the Americas? Lessons from Mexico." Held in Washington, D.C., some 50 participants learned of some of the challenges Mexican communities have faced since the advent of NAFTA. Click for a copy of the Agenda (Toward Sustainable Development in Mexico?)

Several of the presentations from that forum are also available as power point presentations, found on the left hand column.

Between November 16 and 22, 2003, the Texas Center for Policy Studies participated in several forums and discussions organized by civil society both within the security zone of the Miami Trade Ministerial, and outside with those largely protesting the secretive nature of the negotiation process.

First of all, the Texas Center for Policy Studies participated in the "Trade and Environment Thematic Tent" as part of the civil society-led Americas Trade and Sustainable Development Forum, moderating a panel with the National Wildlife Federation on Institutional Mechanisms for Cooperation. Information about the ATSDF and the various tents can be found at the ATSDF website.

Several of the presentations from that panel are available as power point presentations, found on the left-hand column.

In addition to the "Inside the Tent" strategy, which culminated with a meeting with some of the Trade Ministers, TCPS participated in a day-long forum ("Faces of the Global Economy") on November 21st hosted by the Hemispheric Social Alliance and others. We organized a panel with the Global Development and Environment Institute to present our case studies on the impacts of NAFTA on the environment and public health in Mexico. Information about all the outside the security zone activities can be found at the website of the Citizens Trade Campaign.

The forum included presentations by Alejandro Villamar from RMALC, Tim Wise from GDAE, Javier Balderas from the Tepeyac, Oaxaca Human Rights Center. Unfortunately, these presentations are not available as power points, though most of the information is contained in reports published with TCPS or GDAE's excellent book: Confronting Globalization: Economic Integration and Popular Resistance in Mexico, published in 2003 by Kumarian Press. In addition to the workshop on "Lessons Learned from Mexico," TCPS moderated a panel on the Threat to Democracy of the NAFTA and Free Trade Agreement Investment Protection Provisions." Several of the presentations from that panel are available as power point presentations.

The Free Trade of the Americas Ministerial Meeting culminated with an agreement to continue with negotiations on creating a "Free Trade of the Americas" Agreement further integrating the economies of 34 nations in the Western Hemisphere, but in the face of massive pressure from labor, civil society and others, some of the governments from South America pushed for and got much greater flexibility on the pace and scale of the integration. Click here (for a copy of the Miami Declaration of the Trade Ministers). Click here (for a Spanish copy of the Miami Declaration)

Still, civil society, environmentalists and labor unions from across the Hemisphere continue to oppose the negotiations in its present format and are concerned, especially as the text of the agreement is full of every proposal, whether likely or not, making it difficult to assess what a final agreement would look like. Information about the Free Trade of the Americas, including the text itself, can be found at official FTAA website.

TCPS recently presented some of our impressions from our involvement in the Miami events locally at an event sponsored by the Texas Fair Trade Campaign. Click here for (Lessons Learned from Miami: Inside, Outside or In-Between Strategies?

Contact Information

Cyrus Reed
TCPS
44 East Avenue Suite 306
Austin, TX 78701
512.474.0811 phone
512.474.7846 fax
cr@texascenter.org