Everything You Need to Know About FTAA+10 Weekend

Planning is mostly finalized for the FTAA+10! Here's what you should know:

The FTAA+10 commemorates the events of ten years past on the streets of Miami, when anti-globalization activists were brutally repressed by the Miami police force. The FTAA+10 is also shining a light on the Transpacific Partnership, the latest and by far the most secretive and oppressive free trade agreement in world history.

Our schedule of events actually begins Friday, November 8th, at Sweat Records, for a screening of the documentary "The Miami Model," which tells the tale of the original 2003 convergence.

Puppetistas are also planning a puppet parade for FTAA weekend and are doing a series of puppet, sign, and banner workshops to prepare. Join the puppet parade and find out when and where these workshops are scheduled here.

Fort Lauderdale Food Not Bombs is putting together a special food sharing to kick off FTAA weekend at Government Center in downtown Miami on Friday, November 15th, at 7 pm. Bring a dish if you like...but more importantly, bring your stories, because we're putting a special call out for those that experienced the 2003 FTAA protests and other victims of police brutality to tell their stories while we're there.

Perhaps most importantly, we'll be marching from Government Center at 1 pm on Saturday, November 16th, to commemorate the events of 2003 and also to demonstrate resistance to the Transpacific Partnership. Bring signs and your spirits, or join in the puppet parade, and then stick around for music and speakers afterwards. If you can't make it, keep an eye out for solidarity actions online or in your own part of the world. There just happens to be a national call to action to stop the TPP for this same time and date, so find out more there. (We do not have any affiliation, nor do we endorse, the organization coordinating this particular campaign.)

Finally, we will be wrapping up FTAA+10 weekend with a panel discussion on free trade and globalization on Sunday, November 17th. Our speakers include activists who experienced the 2003 FTAA protests as well as persons knowledgeable on the disastrous economic effects of free trade policy as well as its impact on civil liberties.

The Most Important Way You Can Help:

There is still much everyone can do to make sure that the legacy of the Miami FTAA police riots is not forgotten. Please send invites and share our events with individuals and groups who can join us or support us in other ways. Educate yourself and others about the Transpacific Partnership online. Develop resistance to free trade policy in your own communities.

We'll have more information on what more people can do to fight the TPP in the future...for now we'll see everyone in Miami!

Puppet Parade Schedule Announced

It's been ten years since the FTAA police riots...Join The Autonomous Playhouse & the FTAA+10 Working Group to commemorate the events of 2003 and demonstrate resistance to the Transpacific Partnership. 

We'll be leaving with the main march from Gvoernment Center at 1 pm and performing a scripted puppet parade sequence once we arrive at the end of the march at the Torch of Friendship. We will have plenty of fun costumes and props so please join the puppetistas!

But Wait, There's More!

The Playhouse is also looking for help building puppets, props, and banners for this event! So far there are 3 days of puppet building planned, with more to come. Find out more about the puppetista workshops here:

Palm Beach Workshop:
https://www.facebook.com/events/245824318906401

Broward Workshop Weekend:
https://www.facebook.com/events/245824318906401/

more TBA!

Free Trade Panel Announced For FTAA+10 Weekend

FTAA+10 Working Group is rounding out the 3 day weekend of resistance with a panel on the free trade agenda.

"Speaking About Free Trade, Organizing Resistance" is now scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 17 at 3 pm at FIU North.

Please join us for a panel presentation and discussion on the misnamed phenomenon of "free trade", the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and its roots in an imperialist/neo-liberal agenda. This event and others already scheduled coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) summit which both promoted an oppressive economic model and brought notoriety to Miami for its police state implementation of what came to be known as "the Miami Model".

Five speakers, each bringing unique experience and perspective, will share on topics ranging from the legal to the political, followed by discussion on what it means for us, and how we might fight back.

* The rise of the police/surveillance state and militarization of urban police forces: Ray Taseff, ACLU attorney who represented numerous FTAA protesters
* Pro-immigration, anti-"free trade", and how they relate: Kathy Bird, Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC) statewide organizer
* The Colombia-US "free trade" agreement (FTA), and how Colombian workers are resisting: Jairo Marcos Restrepo, anti-imperialist who recently visited Colombia to speak with those in the struggle; also how mainstream media represents our enemy
*"Free trade" and neo-liberalism, a big picture view: Abdy Javadzadeh, FIU Professor of Sociology and author focusing on Middle East politics and economy

"Free Trade" is merely a FREE PASS for capitalism and global corporate domination. Don't miss this important discussion.

Location on campus: Academic Center 1 (AC1) Rm. 194
http://campusmaps.fiu.edu/

Facebook event page

Food Not Bombs Announces FTAA+10 Kick-off Sharing on November 15th

Fort Lauderdale Food Not Bombs is inviting people hungry for justice and delicious vegetarian food to come out to Government Center in downtown Miami Friday, November 15th, at 7 pm.

Food Not Bombs is a global movement for the end of institutionalized poverty and hunger; something the free trade agenda plays an increasingly large role in as austerity and structural adjustment abuses food prices and social services worldwide.

Therefore FNB activists will be converging to help with FTAA weekend and inviting people to take an active role in communities in South Florida to combat economic inequality. Along with help setting up this sharing we are also inviting activists to help us plan more activities for Friday night to get the FTAA+10 off to a good start!

"The Miami Model" Screening Set for November 8th, 2013

The FTAA+10 Working Group is happy to announce we'll be playing "The Miami Model" at Sweat Records on Friday, November 8th at 7 pm. It should be a great opportunity to familiarize activists with the events and implications of the free trade agenda. Join the facebook event here.

This will be a FREE screening of the seminal documentary about the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit in Nov., 2003, and the overwhelming police state response to the protests it inspired, followed by discussion related to the misnamed phenomenon of "free trade," neoliberalism and specifically to the impending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). 

The implications of these kinds of agreements are horrendous for working class people on a global scale, and the only thing free in the outcomes, as has been the case with NAFTA and CAFTA, is that they provide a free pass for the corporate, or capitalist, domination of the world. The complementary horror arising out of the FTAA was a new model of police infiltration and militarized urban repression which aptly has become known as "the Miami Model."

The screening is timed to educate our community and our activist circles, none of which will be untouched by the TPP, in advance of other activities - a march/rally and a panel - taking place the following weekend. Sweat Records is at 5505 NE 2nd Ave., Miami, Florida 33137

But wait! If you can't make it, don't know what it is, or want to schedule screenings in your own community to explain the free trade agenda OR get them interested in coming to the FTAA+10 anniversary weekend, you can watch it free online right here:

FTAA+10 Marches to Stop The Transpacific Partnership on November 16th, 2013

While the exact march route and permitting is still in the works, organizers for the FTAA+10 are putting the word out that we are beginning a march, including a puppet parade, at Jose Marti Park in Miami at 1 pm, on Saturday, November 16th. Our focus for this march is to spread awareness and a spirit of resistance to the Transpacific Partnership, the largest and most devastating free trade agreement in history.

We are also in the works of scheduling a panel on the consequences of the FTAA, TPP, and free trade globalization for the next day, and are looking for any other programming or participation that groups would like to commit to during this weekend. Flyers and other information will be available soon.

We would also like to remind everyone that this blog is open for posting by those would like to share their experiences of the original FTAA, on information on free trade and the TPP, and ideas for how Floridians and all of humanity can continue to oppose and stop these exploitative practices. Contact us through this blog or at swampzine (at) gmail if you would like to contribute to this blog. The organizing body for this weekend has been meeting regularly on Sunday in Miami. Please contact us if you would like to join us.

Onward to FTAA+10!

Planning Begins with Torch Assembly on October 13th

In order to create an event that both does justice to the events of November 2003, and the violent threat that free trade and militarization poses to billions of human beings all over the world, we are calling for an assembly at the Torch of Friendship on Sunday, October 13th, at 3 pm.

Plans are already being worked on for a puppet parade about police brutality, for a panel discussing the impact "The Miami Model" had on American civil liberties, and for educational events on the nature of free trade and the Transpacific Partnership (TPP).

Please attend this assembly or contact us through this blog if you wish to offer some event programming for the FTAA+10, scheduled for the weekend of November 15th-17th...just over a month away!

Facebook event for assembly