Neoliberal Globalization: Cancún and Beyond

Segment From The Report: Neoliberal Globalization: Cancun and Beyond

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“The corporate caterpillars come into our backyards and turn the world to pocket change… They preach from the pulpit of the bottom line. Their minds rustle with million dollar bills.”

In her song, The Priests of the Golden Bull, Cree singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte Marie captures the essence of the neoliberal globalization agenda.

2003 marks the tenth anniversary of the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and 511 years of resistance against colonialism in the Americas.

The Fifth Ministerial of the World Trade Organization (WTO) takes place in Cancun Mexico, September 10-14, 2003.

Throughout the Americas and the world there is a growing resistance to privatisation, market reform programs, and free trade. In the South these programs are usually imposed on countries burdened with debt due to crippling loan conditions from financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and backed up by official bilateral development assistance from government agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

In Paraguay and Peru there have been major mobilizations against the privatisation of electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities. Huge marches have taken place in El Salvador against President Flores’ plans to privatise healthcare and social security in a country where telephone costs have been more than doubled and power rates increased five times since privatisation.

In Mexico the Electrical Workers Union (SME) has helped create a National Front of Resistance against President Fox’s privatisation plans for two national power companies.

Transnational corporations (TNCs) are nothing new. Chartered companies like the Dutch East India Company, and the Hudson’s Bay Company (Canada) exploited colonies backed by there parent governments. The classic colonial state was structured for the exploitation and extraction of resources. In the 21st century, neoliberal globalization is forcing countries into becoming playgrounds for transnational corporations to wander and plunder at will.

Since the former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher first coined the phrase, we have had the mantra “There Is No Alternative” (to the “free market”) rammed down our throats.

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