Global Exchange and Alliance for Democracy is bringing three speakers to Portland, OR to discuss the Security and Propsperity Partnership (SPP) of North America, often referred to as NAFTA-plus: Hector Sanchez of Global Exchange; Carleen Pickard of the Council of Canadians; and Manuel Perez Rocha of the Institute for Policy Studies. Cascadia Root Force will also be present.

First Unitarian Church (SW 12th and Salmon), Eliot Hall; 7PM

The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) is a framework for implementing international trade and security policy outside of the systems of democracy and public participation (extra-congressionally). It was created by Bush and the leaders of Canada and Mexico in 2005. It has been called NAFTA-Plus or NAFTA-plus-Homeland Security, which are both pretty accurate descriptions. The SPP established ten “working-groups” which are essentially corporate sector think tanks to create and recommend “Free-Trade” policy to be implemented through “administrative channels” within the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Department of Homeland Security.

Analysts know that the SPP is a tacit admission by multinational corporations and governments that free trade policies are extremely unpopular and that they cause economic and social instability. The admission comes in two forms: 1.) a deliberate drive to avoid publicity and transparency in the policy creation process and 2.) the inclusion of militarized security forces in the plans for policy implementation –to quell social unrest during ‘economic restructuring.’ Although specific plans have been kept private (Judicial Watch is currently involved in a freedom-of-information legal battle with the SPP), there are public documents outlining policy goals that have been written by the same people that are responsible for the SPP.

Think of the SPP as an evolving free trade agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico. One that changes and grows every time the working groups meet or finish a report. One of the many goals of the SPP, as stated in the North America Future 2025 Project, is to make labor more flexible, mobile, and adjustable, specifically in the industrial sector. This essentially means contracting well-paying, secure, manufacturing and industrial sector jobs out to temp services, allowing wages to be reduced, security and benefits to disappear, industrial manufacturing to be more vulnerable (reliant on market forces), and multinational corporations to profit at the expense of people.