Peru strikes against US FTA
Peru Strikes against US FTA
Lima, 2 Jun 2006 (Prensa Latina) — Peruvian farmer, union and student organizations announced Friday a strike as of June 8 for an indefinite period against the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with United States, to avoid its ratification in the Congress.
This measure emerged faced with the Alejandro Toledo government’s persistent adherence to the agreement that will damage the agricultural sector, stated Antolin Huascar, of the National Unitarian Committee at Peru’s Agricultural Unions.
In a release to which Prensa Latina had access, signers stated that the FTA, in addition to damaging small producers, affects national sovereignty due to relations of independence established with transnational capital.
With that purpose, they demand the current legislative body, which will end its mandate on July 27 a day before the inauguration ceremony, not to ratify the accord and subdue it to referendum.
Let’s call all union, student, women, neighborhood, transport and civil society organizations to join the Coordinator’s efforts, stated the text.
Supporting the initiative are the National Agricultural and Peruvian Farmer Confederations, the National Stockbreeder Front, as well as the National Communal Companies Association and the National Cotton Producers Association.
The organizations’ announcement coincides with the delivery of the FTA text to the Congress by the government for its ratification, a step that the US legislative body should also do.
