From: New Liberation News Service <nlns@igc.apc.org>
Subject: MEX.:Workers Resol.Against NAFTA!
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 18:26:49 GMT

/* Written  9:37 pm  Dec 10, 1992 by theorganizer@igc.apc.org in igc:carnet.mexnews */
/* ---------- "MEX.:Workers Resol.Against NAFTA!" ---------- */
>> Call for a referendum on the North American Free Trade
Agreement!
>> The people must decide!

Editors' Note: The following appeal is being circulated throughout
Mexico by supporters of the International Liaison Committee for a
Workers' International.

Several weeks ago, the secretaries of Commerce from the United
States, Mexico and Canada put their initials to the draft
resolution for a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This
paved the way for the final adoption of this treaty.  Throughout
this process, the people of the United States, Mexico and Canada
have not been consulted. The governments that signed this treaty
seem to believe that only a handful of people in high office can
make the fundamental decisions contained in NAFTA.  We, the
undersigned, are firmly opposed to NAFTA. We consider that it
represents a serious threat to our national sovereignty and to the
rights and very existence of Mexican working people.  During the
period in which NAFTA was being negotiated, a series of blows were
dealt to the rights of the Mexican workers and other oppressed
sectors.  Thousands of workers were laid off at Pemex [the
state-owned oil industry] and in the National Railway system. The
right to collective bargaining was revoked at Volkswagen, and the
union there was busted. A generalized policy of privatizations of
state enterprises, namely Pemex and the electricity utilities, has
been pursued.  Wage policies have been implemented by the
government, slashing the purchasing power of the overwhelming
majority of the population. Public services have been privatized,
and the rates have subsequently skyrocketed. And last, but not
least, the peasants have been thrown off their lands with the
modifications to the Agrarian Reform legislation implemented by
the government.  Only a handful of bosses, mainly foreign bosses,
have benefited from these measures.  Today, opposition to NAFTA is
broadly based. The deputies of the PRD [Democratic Revolutionary
Party, the party of Cuauhtmoc Crdenas], have submitted a bill to
the Chamber of Deputies in which they affirm that the Mexican
people should have a say on whether or not NAFTA becomes the law
of the land.  We have seen similar calls for referenda adopted in
countries of Europe in relation to the Maastricht Treaty, as well
as in Canada and Panama. The people in these countries have
demanded that they have the final say in the fundamental decisions
that affect their societies.  Here in Mexico, when confronted with
mass popular protests, the government has had to back down and
modify laws - particularly in relation to electoral reform laws -
that seemed irreversible.  For all these reasons, we are convinced
that the process of ratification of NAFTA is not irreversible. We
have seen in the dynamic world situation since 1989 how
governments and institutions that appeared to be all-powerful and
unmovable were forced by mass popular protest to modify their
policies, or simply were removed from the scene. Everything
depends on the capacity of working people to organize and unite in
struggle!  We, trade unionists and political activists from
diverse backgrounds, are united in our will to defend our national
sovereignty and the rights and gains of Mexican working people. We
are united in our opposition to NAFTA.  We call on the PRD and its
representatives in the Chamber of Deputies - as well as on all
trade union, political and popular organizations - to join us in
the call for a free and democratic Referendum on NAFTA and in the
affirmation that sovereignty lies with the people. The people must
decide their fate!  On the basis of this call we believe it is
necessary to constitute a broad united front to carry out this
campaign. Join us by signing this appeal and helping to distribute
this call.

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Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive