Subcomandante Marcos, a leader with the Zapatistas of Mexico, said in a recent statement that "The aggression against the country of Iraq not only is evidence of the truly destructive mission of globalization but also provoked the largest worldwide repudiation in the history of humanity." He is right to link these issues, and in fact, is far ahead of his Northern counterparts in doing so. In Iraq we saw the use of brute force by so-called "first world nations" to achieve economic spoils, rather than the previous reliance on dictatorships in other countries to carry out the wishes of the world's most powerful countries.
Activists are making the connection between globalization and war, with many believing that it is impossible to bring an end to war without bringing an end to the unjust economic systems that currently dominate the globe. In the past few months there have been large protests against the G-8 Summit Meeting in Europe, the World Trade Organization meeting in Montreal, and at a meeting for the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement in New Orleans.
These protests are seen by many as leading up to the November meeting in Miami for the Free Trade Area of the Americas, an agreement that will (if it is passed) extend NAFTA-style "free trade" throughout the entire western hemisphere (with the exception of Cuba). Activists are already starting to mobilize for the Miami meeting and activists from across the Americas are expected to converge.
FTAA Resources:
A List of FTAA Resources put together by Media Mouse
Anti-authoritarian and Anti-capitalist Organizing against the FTAA
