Joint statement by Young Communist League of Canada – La ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Canada and the Young Communist League USA.
*** For Spanish Translation- see attached document at bottom of the page ***
On August 20-21, at the invitation of the Canadian government, the leaders of the United States, Mexico and Canada are meeting behind closed doors at Chateau Montebello, Quebec, for the third Annual Security and Prosperity Partnership Leaders Summit. US President George W Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mexican President Felipe Calderon will be joined by thirty powerful CEOs from the US, Canada, and Mexico who make up the key advisory body of the SPP, an all-business group called the North American Competitiveness Council.
The Young Communist League of Canada - La ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Canada, the Young Communist League USA, and the Juventud Comunista de Mexico joins with the young peoples in Canada, the US and Mexico in resisting the SPP. Thirteen US State governments have already passed resolutions directing Congress to drop out of the SPP: Idaho, Georgia, Arizona, Missouri, Illinois, Oregon, Montana, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington, and Virginia. The pan-Canadian peace-loving and democratic forces, including the Canadian Labour Congress, have denounced the SPP. In Mexico, people have spoken out about the SPP’s plan to bring Mexico further into line with U.S. policies. The people of Mexico, United States and Canada believe unchecked corporate power has dangerous implications for the entire continent.
The YCL-LJC of Canada, the YCL USA and the JC of Mexico commit to building the broadest possible unity in opposing the SPP. We call upon all progressive, revolutionary and democratic youth to join with the growing opposition.
Described as “NAFTA on Steroids,” the victory of the SPP secret negotiations would make a serious defeat to the popular sovereignty of the masses of the Canadian and Mexican peoples. The SPP negotiations are much broader than the stated trade issues of border crossing facilitation, standards and regulatory cooperation, as well as bulk energy and water exports. They involve forging a corporate constitution over the hard-fought rights of the peoples. Topics on the table include a single currency, which the head of Bank of Canada has said “is possible”; integrating Canadian military units much further into US command; and the NAFTA superhighway corridor – a several hundred miles wide corridor including rail lines, freeways, and pipelines from Mexico to the Canadian border, like a giant straw sucking resources into the belly of imperialism.
The anti-democratic nature of these meetings is also seen in the recent refusal by the US Army, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Sureté du Quebec, for a local civil society organization to rent a community hall in the area. Château Montebello was also the host for the 1983 NATO Nuclear Planning Group, and the 1981 G7 Economic Summit. The talks are taking place on un-surrendered Mohawk land, near the Kanesatake reserve, site of the famous resistance of the Mohawk people at Oka against the Canadian military in 1990.
The Security and Prosperity Partnership will subordinate Mexican, Canadian and US state and local governments to the economic, military and political interests of big capital's world domination strategy. The SPP agreement occurs in period when imperialism is increasing exploitation, as well as the use of war and repression in order to maintain and expand markets. The development of the SPP, the question of US and Canadian imperialism’s objectives in this agreement, and its impact on the youth of Canada, the US and Mexico requires further analysis and investigation.
Since the pretense of the tragedy of September 11th 2001, the world’s imperialist forces, with the United States government in the frontline, have undertaken an aggressive and despicable offense, indiscriminately trying to remove all obstacles on their way to consolidate their global power. Canada, which is both a full imperialist power and a junior ally and advisor to US imperialism, has gone forward with this agenda and the SPP re-affirms the betrayal of the peoples and nations of Canada, including the dominant English-speaking nation, by the Canadian bourgeoisie. This aggressiveness is by no means accidental. It stems from imperialism’s structural incapability to come up with solutions to the needs of the vast majority of the world’s population and at the same time to perpetuate its existence.
On the other side are the youth with the people, including the workers. The youth make up one of the most progressive, radical, and dynamic forces of society. Continuously they are important catalytic forces for social transformation and progress. For the ruling class it is essential that the people not organize, question, think, discuss or reflect and know its defeats – that are the victories of the workers and people. Two main trends are confronting each other: on the one side, imperialism with its interventionist and war policies and, on the other the peoples who struggle for their inalienable rights. The total failure of neo-liberal policies has been sharply felt in many parts of the world and is being challenged by the huge ranks of youth and students all over the world.
We commit ourselves to struggle for a world of peace, for a different socio-economic system that holds humanity at the center and main producer, a system based on social justice, national sovereignty, independence, self-determination, democracy, security, friendship, international solidarity and cooperation. We demand respect for and call for the defense of human and youth rights, women’s rights, sexual and reproductive rights, aboriginal, oppressed and minority nations, sustainable development and the environment. We demand that everyone should have access to employment, labour rights, food and water, quality free public and education, health care, sports, housing, culture and technology.
We call on youth to join this struggle and oppose the Security Prosperity Partnership.
We are confident that the victory will be ours!
** This statement has been endorsed by the Young Communists of Mexico (JCM) **
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