Help stop the U.S.-Peru FTA vote with a strong message to your Representative when they return from summer recess.

A year ago, the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) was pushed through the House of Representatives by just two votes in the middle of the night. People of faith united with student, labor, environmental and health groups to say that expanding the broken North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) model to Central America violated principles of trade justice.  Now, the Bush Administration wants to push through a new trade agreement, this time with Peru. Unfortunately it is based on the same harmful model.

The U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement (US-Peru FTA) is yet another manifestation of the “one-size-fits-all” model that does not live up to the principles of trade justice.  A U.S. vote for the trade pact could take place anytime after Congress returns from summer recess on September 5.  Given how controversial trade votes have become, the Bush administration might try to circumvent public scrutiny and bring it to a vote during a lame-duck session of Congress after the November elections.  The passage of this FTA would pave the way for an identical deal with Colombia—fueling the fires of the country’s 40-year old conflict.  We have learned that once the vote goes to the floor, supporters will do anything to see it pass.  That is why we need to stop the U.S.-Peru FTA vote.

Peru is engaged in a delicate reconciliation process after decades of civil war and the country remains burdened by high levels of poverty and a growing gap between rich and poor.  In a desperate attempt to gain support for the US-Peru FTA, Bush Administration officials are claiming the trade pact will lead to increased democratic stability in the region and curbed trafficking and cultivation of cocaine and coca.  Based on our experience with NAFTA and CAFTA, we believe the US-Peru FTA will cause lost livelihoods in rural communities, reduced access to life-saving medicines, an erosion of labor and environmental protections. The US-Peru FTA will not bring stability or development to the region!
 
Tell Congress that expanding NAFTA and CAFTA to Peru is a bad idea

Call the U.S. Capitol between Sept. 5-8 (202) 224-3121. Ask to be connected to your House member (give your zip code if you’re not sure of your Rep’s name)

* When you are connected, ask to speak with the staffer working on trade issues.  Tell him or her that you oppose expanding NAFTA and CAFTA to Peru.
* Ask for your representative’s position on the US-Peru FTA in writing to be sent to you by email or regular mail.
* Use a local or personal story of damage from bad trade deals to illustrate your case or use the call script provided below.

Stop the US-Peru FTA vote call script:

Hello, my name is _________, and I am a constituent.  May I speak with the staffer that deals with trade issues? I am calling to find out Representative ______________ position on the upcoming U.S.-Peru free trade agreement.  Can you tell me how he/she plans to vote? 
It is very important that Representative _____________ come out publicly to oppose this FTA. 

The Peru FTA is (select one or two of the below talking points):

* Bad for democracy because it was negotiated in total secret without civil society participation.  Now Representative ___________ can only give an up or down vote on the pact.  It will be an affront to the democratic process if this controversial agreement were brought to a vote during the lame-duck session after the elections.  The FTA will limit public officials’ ability to use purchasing policies to benefit local development through “buy local” preferences and prevailing wage laws.

* Bad for small farmers because it will lower Peru’s tariffs on agricultural products, making the country vulnerable to cheap imports from the U.S.  This effectively wipes out local farmers like the 1.7 million displaced in Mexico since NAFTA passed 12 years ago.  This is of particular concern in a country working to curb coca production. 

* Bad for indigenous peoples because it opens the way for large pharmaceutical and agribusiness corporations to patent traditional knowledge, seeds, and life forms.  This violation of the integrity of creation opens the door to bio-piracy of the biogenetic wealth of the Andean-Amazon region and threatens the ecological, medicinal and cultural heritage of indigenous peoples.

* Bad for drug reduction because it will exacerbate the root economic, political, and social inequality problems and will do nothing to address consumption issues in the North.  By placing profits over people, corporate interests over worker rights, and trade laws over local and national democracies, the FTA will reinforce failed U.S. drug war policies in the region. 

* Bad for public health because the FTA’s intellectual property provisions restricts access to life-saving medicines through unnecessarily long patent lives and data-protections provisions that impede the production of generic and more affordable alternatives.  According to Doctors Without Borders, after the first 5 years of the trade deal, between 700,000 to 900,000 people are expected to be excluded from receiving medicines.

* Bad for women, children, and the poor because it includes provisions promoting the privatization and deregulation of essential services such as water, healthcare and education.  As these services become less accessible, the burden falls on women, children and vulnerable populations.

* Bad for working people because it contains no enforceable labor protections and will likely further decrease U.S. and Peru unionization rates, push more well-paid jobs out of the U.S., and perpetuate child labor practices reported in Peru.