STOP NAFTA! NO TO THE WALL OF SHAME!
(March 17-18, 2018 — Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico)
Auditorium of the Democratic Union of Government Workers of the State of Chiapas; Boulevard Fidel Velásquez, next to CBTIS 144 in Tuxtla Gutierrez
On March 18, 1938 — 80 years ago — the Mexican government nationalized the foreign oil corporations in Mexico. The Law of Expropriation marked a historical conquest of the Mexican people and nation. But today this conquest is threatened by the privatization plan of Pemex promoted by the officials involved in the “renegotiation” of NAFTA.[1]
Eighty years later, on the weekend of March 17-18, 2018, we, the undersigned unionists and activists from Mexico and the United States, will be convening the Second Session of the Binational Conference Against NAFTA and the Wall of Shame.[2] Together, we will analyze and share our experiences concerning the destructive effects of NAFTA in all signatory countries.
In the case of Mexico, NAFTA has been wielded as a mechanism of exploitation and destruction of our national sovereignty, placed above our Constitution. It has been imposed by the multinational corporations of global Capitalism to destroy the industrial and agricultural fabric of the country, to privatize natural resources and public services, and to eliminate the historical labor and political conquests wrested by workers through decades of class struggle.
We will also discuss forms of organization and actions to reject NAFTA, which must be repealed through the mobilized action of the working class; otherwise it will be an instrument that will lead us more quickly to social barbarism.
The initial call to the Binational Conference was presented by 100 trade unionists and activists from the United States and Mexico.[3] The First Session was held on December 2-3, 2017, in Carson, California, with more than 200 participants.[4] The Second Session will be held in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas next March 17-18, 2018.
We call on all workers, women and men, trade unionists, militants, activists, students — all who support labor and human rights, all who support the oppressed people of the city and countryside in the United States and Mexico — to join us in endorsing and building this Second Session of the Binational Conference. We call upon one and all to unify and strengthen our struggles on both sides of the border.
Conference Agenda:
- SATURDAY, March 17 @ 9.30 am: Registration and beginning of the plenary session — 3 pm: Break. — 5 pm: Cultural Program.
- SUNDAY 18.@ 10 am: Workshops and Report-backs.
FOR THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE OF THE SECOND SESSION OF THE BINATIONAL CONFERENCE:
Margarita Zepeda López, Secretaria General del Sindicato Democrático de Trabajadores al Servicio del Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas; José Raúl Calleja Lacorti, Sector Salud-COI; Carlos Misael Palma López, Comité promotor de la Nueva Central de Trabajadores-NCT en el sureste COI; Daniel Martínez Velasco, Colegiado Estatal de Padres de Familia; Raúl Drouvalliet Patiño, Movimiento Petrolero de Tabasco-NCT; Mario Díaz Ortega, Movimiento Petrolero de Veracruz; Ing. Fernando Serrano Monroy, SuiCobach; José Antonio Gómez Juárez, Brenda Rincón Álvarez, Fredy Rodríguez Méndez Jóvenes por la NCT Sur-sureste; Daniel Gómez Meza, profesor de la Secc 7 SNTE-CNTE; Muriel Gómez-CCL, Secc 40 SNTE-CNTE; Ángel Luna Suicobach; Luis Carlos Haro, por la OPT- Tijuana; Juan Carlos Vargas, CORCI México; Alejandra Rivera, Asamblea Popular Tijuana; Erick Jiménez, estudiante de Derecho Mexicali, Baja California; Liliana Plumeda, OPT Mexicali; Diana Aranguré, maestra, Mexicali Resiste; Irma Ojeda, Comunidad BC Resiste; y Susana Prieto Terrazas, por Obrer@s Maquiler@s de Ciudad Juárez, AC. (Titles are listed for id. purposes.)
Endnotes
[1] The Binational Conference is being held in two sessions because most of the union delegates from Mexico (especially from Chiapas and Baja California) were not granted visas to attend the conference on December 2-3, 2017 in Carson, California.
[2] On September 2, 2017, Reuters Business News sent out a dispatch under the title, “NAFTA Negotiators Seek to Enshrine Mexico’s Energy Reforms’.” It reads, in part: “MEXICO CITY (Reuters) — U.S., Canadian and Mexican negotiators are zeroing in on ways to enshrine Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s sweeping energy reforms into a modernized North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico’s chief negotiator said on Saturday. The 2014 reforms wrung control of the country’s oil and gas sector from State hands, opening it up to private investment, and incorporating them into the 23-year-old NAFTA as a way to help preserve them for the long term. When NAFTA was enacted in 1994, Mexico’s energy sector was closed, and Peña Nieto’s reforms ended a decades-long monopoly for national oil company Pemex [PEMX.UL] and ensured competitive oil auctions. Incorporating them into NAFTA would help shield them from any future governments that may want to reverse them.”
[2] The First Session of the Binational Conference was built by the following organizations: Hermandad Mexicana-La Original; Sacramento LCLAA (AFL-CIO); Los Angeles Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO); Asociaciones de Organizaciones por la Justicia Social (San Quintin); Farm Labor Organizing Committee, (FLOC, AFL-CIO); Sindicato Nacional de Jornaleros Agrícolas (SINDJA), México; Sacramento Labor Council (AFL-CIO); San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO); Faculty Association CSU Dominguez Hills; Comité Promotor Mexicano de la Conferencia Binacional (Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas); Department of Modern Languages, CSU Dominguez Hills; UAW Local 551; Labor Fightback Network; OPT Tijuana; The Organizer; Worker Action Solidarity Network; SEIU Local 100).
The first 100 endorsers of the Binational Conference from the United States and Mexico are the following. (Note: All organizations and titles are listed for identification only): From the United States: Baldemar Velasquez, President, Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC, AFL-CIO), Toledo, OH; Alan Benjamin, Member, Continuations Committee, Mumbai Conference Against War & Exploitation, Delegate, SF Labor Council, San Francisco, CA; Eduardo Rosario, President, New York City Labor Council for, Latin American Advancement (AFL-CIO), Brooklyn, NY; Nativo Lopez, Senior Advisor, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional « La Original », Los Angeles, CA; Chris Silvera, Secretary-Treasurer, Local 808 International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Long Island City, NY; Nancy Wohlforth, Secretary-Treasurer Emerita, OPEIU, Washington, DC; Al Rojas, LCLAA-Sacramento AFL-CIO, Sacramento, CA; Saladin Muhammad, Southern Workers Assembly, Rocky Mount, NC; Rolando Revilla Jr., FLOC, Toledo, OH; Colia Clark, National Coordinator , Judicial Violence Symposium, Harlem, NY; William I. Robinson, Professor of Global and International Studies, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA; Sara Flounders, Co-Director, International Action Center, New York, NY; Erin McKee, President, South Carolina AFL-CIO, Mt. Pleasant, SC; Joe Lombardo, Co-Coordinator, United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), Delmar, NY; Clarence Thomas, Past Secretary-Treasurer (retired), ILWU Local 10,, Co-chair, Million Worker March Movement, Oakland, CA; Rodrigo Toscano, Labor Institute / United Steelworkers, National Projector Director for Health, Safety, and Environment, New Orleans, LA; Donna Dewitt, President Emeritus, South Carolina AFL-CIO, Swansea, SC; Katherine Black, Co-Convener, US Labor Against the War, Philadelphia, PA; David Swanson, Director of World Beyond War, , Campaign Coordinator of RootsAction.org, Charlottesville, VA; Nnamdi Lumumba, State Organizer, Ujima People’s Progress Party, Baltimore, MD; Gene Bruskin, Co-Founder, USLAW; trade unionist, Silver Spring, MD; Jim Lafferty, Executive Director Emeritus, National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles, CA; Mary Prophet, Member, USLAW Nat’l Steering Committee, Delegate, Alameda County Labor Committee, Berkeley, CA; James M. Wallrabenstein, Social Justice Activist, Spokane, WA; Ralph Schoenman, Taking Aim, Vallejo, CA; Mya Shone, Taking Aim, Vallejo, CA; Allan Fisher, AFT 2121 delegate to , San Francisco Labor Council, San Francisco, CA; Traven Leyshon, President, Green Mountain Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Montpelier, VT; Julia John, Ujima People’s Progress Party, Baltimore, MD; Laurence H. Shoup, UAW 1981 ret., Oakland, CA; Melina Juárez, Ph.D Candidate, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM; Dennis Gallie, UAW 249 retired member, Kansas City, MO; Rodger Scott, Past President, AFT 2121, Current Executive Board Member & Delegate to the San Francisco Labor Council, San Francisco, CA; Jerry Levinsky, Steering Committee, Labor Fightback Network, Member, SEIU 509, Amherst, MA; Haldon C. Sutton, Executive Board Member at Large, SW Florida UAW Retired Workers Council (for id only), North Port, FL; Larry Duncan, CWA 14408 (Retired), Chicago, IL; Lindsay Curtis, Editorial Board, The Organizer Newspaper, Sacramento, CA; Elizabeth C Wright, Social justice activist, San Francisco, CA; Steve Early, Member, Richmond Progressive Alliance, and , Pacific Media Workers Guild/News Guild/CWA, Richmond, CA; Thomas Bias, National Secretary, Labor Fightback Network, Flanders, NJ; Gayle McLaughlin, Former Mayor of Richmond, CA and Candidate for Lt. Governor of California 2018, Richmond, CA; Timothy Stinson, Socialist Organizer, Albany, OR; Don Bryant, Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network, President, Cleveland, OH; C. T. Weber, Peace and Freedom Party of California, , Legislative Committee Chair, Sacramento, CA; Mark Weber, Social justice activist, Cleveland, OH; Dan Kaplan , Executive Secretary, AFT Local 1943, , the San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers, San Mateo, CA ; Michael Carano, Teamsters Local 348, retired, Tallmadge, OH; Carol E Gay, President, NJ State Industrial Union Council, Brick, NJ; Jeffrey Segal, National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW Local 2320, Louisville, KY; David Walters, Member, IBEW 1245 (retired), San Francisco, CA; Millie Phillips, Steering Committee, Labor Fightback Network, Oakland, CA; Todd Jelen, Member, American Federation of Musicians (AFL-CIO), Brook Park, OH; Sarah-Emily Carter, Administration Assistant, South Carolina AFL-CIO, Swansea, SC; Mary Findley, Vice Chair, Lorain County Forward, Amherst, OH; Michael Fanderys, Peace Action (retiree), Cleveland, OH; Cindy Fanderys, Peace Action (retiree), Cleveland, OH; Cindy Sheehan, Executive Director, Cindy Sheehan Soapbox, Vacaville, CA; Bill Shields, Member, AFT 2121, San Francisco, CA; Barry Hermanson, SF Green Party, San Francisco, CA. ENDORSERS IN MEXICO: Luis Carlos Haro, OPT Tijuana; Fernando Serrano Monroy, Secretario General del Sindicato Único Independiente de los Colegios de Bachilleres de Chiapas SUITCOBACH; Mario Roldán Robledo, Dirigente del Consejo Central de Lucha de la Sección 40 SNTE – CNTE; Muriel Gómez, Dirigente del Consejo Central de Lucha de la Sección 40 SNTE – CNTE; Daniel Gómez Mesa, Nueva Central de Trabajadores Sindicalista de la Sección 7 del SNTE- CNTE, región Frontera Comalapa; Daniel Martínez Velasco, Comisión promotora de la Nueva Central de Trabajadores sur sureste de México; Raúl Drouvalliet Patiño, Coordinadora Nacional de Petroleros Mexicanos, Villahermosa, Tabasco; Mario Díaz Ortega, Coordinadora en Defensa de PEMEX, Minatitlán, Veracruz; José Raúl Calleja Lacorti, Coordinadora Estatal Democrática de la Sección 50 de SNTSA; Fredy Rodríguez Méndez, sindicalista Sección 7 SNTE- CNTE; Roger Cerda Medina, Secretario de Organización de la Delegación D-IV 9 Jubilados y Pensionados; Carlos Misael Palma López, CORCI México; Melquiades Velueta Velueta, Coordinadora Democrática de la Salud, Sección 50, SNTSA, región Palenque, Chiapas; Russel Aguilar Brindis, Secretario General Delegacional Escuelas Secundarias Técnicas, Sección VII SNTE-CNTE; Gilberto Montes Vázquez, OPT Chiapas; Wilner Metelus, Presidente del Comité Ciudadano de Defensa de los Naturalizados y Afroamexicanos; Comisión Ciudadana de Derechos Humanos del Noroeste, A.C; Hugo Castro Vázquez, Coordinador de la organización Ángeles sin Fronteras en Baja California; Mónica Acosta Zamora, National Political Campaign for the Freedom of Ramsey Muñíz; Unión General de Obreros y Campesinos de México Bandera Roja; Guillermo Almeyra, escritor y periodista; Sara Fernández, Grupo Gestor Águilas de Baja California, Tijuana; Cirilo Gómez, profesor Tecate; Asociación de Padres por una Educación de Calidad, Tijuana; Ubaldo Rosas Valladeres, Jornalero Agrícola San Quintín; Alejandra Rivera Arvizu, OPT Tijuana; María Rivera, OPT Tijuana; Joaquín Torres, OPT Tijuana; Christian Santana, Estudiantes en Defensa de la Educación Pública; Juan Carlos Vargas, CORCI México; Jesús Casillas Arredondo, OPT Mexicali; Carlos Rosales, Profesor de UABC; Manuel Hernández, Profesor de preparatoria, BC; Abril Angélica Rodríguez Martínez, activista en el movimiento feminista y en defensa del agua, Mexicali, Baja California; Juan Antonio Avalos Rojas, STUNAM; Eduardo Félix, Estudiante San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora; Erick Omar Jimenez Campaña, estudiante UABC; Liliana Plumeda, OPT Mexicali; Marco Morales, Activista de Mexicali Resiste; Teresa Saavedra Talavera, Partido Popular Socialista de México; Laura Benítez, Movimiento Ateo Feminista Internacional; Emiliano Raya Aguilar, Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria; Ismael Ruiz, Asistente de Investigación.
[4] The Full Report on the First Session of the Binational Conference (Dec. 2-3, 2017, in Carson, California) can be accessed at http://www.binationalcampaign.org.
Binational Campaign 