 
NEWS RELEASE
KAIROS JOINS THOUSANDS IN MIAMI PROTESTING
FTAA TALKS
For Immediate Release
14 November 2003
(Toronto) KAIROS will be among a Canadian delegation joining thousands
of activists from around the Americas who are heading to Miami next
week to protest the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) talks
being held there from the 20th to 21st November.
KAIROS is a partnership of Canadian churches and religious organizations
dedicated to social justice. It is also a member of Common Frontiers,
a coalition of churches, unions, international development groups
and social movements in Canada that has waged a NO-FTAA campaign
for the past year by collecting more than 50,000 signatures on petitions
and postcards calling for an end to the proposed agreement.
Rusa Jeremic, KAIROS’ Program Coordinator for Global Economic
Justice, will represent KAIROS as part of the Common Frontiers delegation.
She has also been working closely with international partners on
this issue such as the Hemispheric Social Alliance.
“It is critical that the FTAA and all other trade agreements
that put profits before people be stopped,” says Jeremic.
“We are talking about the livelihoods of millions of people
throughout the Americas. For many, we are talking about the difference
between having enough to eat and not eating at all. We are talking
about basic issues of survival and the right to adequate food, shelter
and healthcare services”.
International Trade Ministers from 34 countries in the Americas
will be in Miami to negotiate the next to final text of the proposed
FTAA agreement, scheduled to be signed in January 2005. These talks
have reached a critical point. An October prepartory meeting ended
in an impasse with no clear agenda set for the Miami Ministerial.
Groups throughout the Americas are also protesting the lack of
transperancy and accountability in the negotiations process. “This
is also an issue of democracy,” says Jeremic. “We believe
in the rights of citizens and our elected governments to decide
our own destiny yet governments continue to negotiate this agreement
in secrecy and to include provisions that will override national
laws that protect such things as the environment and healthcare”.
While in Miami Jeremic will speak at the People’s Gala for
Global Justice, participate in a workshop on the impacts of the
NAFTA and attend an interfaith service and vigil calling for peace
through justice and understanding.
Jeremic will be available for interviews while in Miami.
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For further information contact:
Adiat Junaid
Communications Coordinator
KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiaitves
(416) 463-5312, ext. 223
ajunaid@kairoscanada.org
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