7613: Upcoming Speaking Tour with Haitian Economist Camille Chalmers (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: radman <resist@best.com>

Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2001 23:07:55 -0500 (CDT)

(all apologies for any cross-postings)

Global Exchange Announces April Speaking Tour:

Haiti and the FTAA: A Presentation from Economist Camille Chalmers

Executive Secretary, PAPDA (Platform for the Advocacy of Alternative
Development in Haiti); Executive Secretary, Jubilee Haiti; 50 Years Is
Enough South Council; Fellow, Center for Economic Justice

Leaders from the across the Western Hemisphere are preparing for the
Summit of the Americas from April 18 through 22 in Quebec where they
will  attempt to finalize negotiations for a NAFTA-expansion called the
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).  Learn directly from an
experienced organizer from Haiti what this type of free trade initiative
would mean for the already deepening economic crisis that faces
countries like Haiti. Camille Chalmers, born in Haiti and educated in
Venezuela, is the Executive Secretary of PAPDA, the Haitian Advocacy
Platform for an Alternative Development.  Both as a Professor of
Economics at the State University of Haiti and as a grassroots organizer
working with the peasants of Haiti, he has led the movement within Haiti
for an economic alternative to the structural adjustment programs being
imposed by the World Bank and the IMF. Mr. Chalmers gives an excellent
firsthand account of the adverse effects of implementing neo-liberal
trade policies into the context of a country already struggling with
insurmountable debt, a painful privatization process, and rapidly
diminishing food security.

When and Where:

Monday
April 9
7 pm     Rollins College

Winter Park, FL

For more information: Eric Schutz, schutz@rollins.edu, 407 646 2509

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Tuesday
April 10     University of Florida

Gainsville, FL

For more information: Bret Bostock, Bretbostic@hotmail.com, 352 373 3566

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Tuesday
April 10
7-9 pm     University of the District of Columbia

Student Lounge
4200 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC
240 432 7414

For more information: Melinda Miles, 301-699-0042, Haiti Reborn/Quixote
Center

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Wednesday
April 11
7 pm     Roxbury Community College

Roxbury Community College
Boston, MA

For more information: Russ Davis, Jobs for Justice, 617 534 8778

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Thursday
April 12
7 pm     Worcester State college

Chandler St.
Worcester, MA

For more information: Russ Davis, 781 641 7480

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Friday
April 13
6-8 pm     University of Washington

TBA
Seattle, WA

For more information: Steve Marquart, marquart@uwashington.edu, 206 543
7946, Center for Labor Studies

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Camille Chalmers is the Executive Secretary of PAPDA, the Haitian
Advocacy Platform for an Alternative Development. PAPDA is a coalition
of nine grassroots organizations that provide technology and a variety
of resources for education around economic alternatives to the top down
logic of neo-liberalism. Through PAPDA Mr. Chalmers works directly with
peasants engaged in creating alternative agriculture development. In the
midst of an economic crisis caused by international austerity programs,
these efforts are faced with many obstacles.

Mr. Chalmers has been working in Haiti for over twenty years to increase
international solidarity, in particular with other Caribbean nations. He
received both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree from the Central
University of Venezuela in Economic Administration, and has since taught
for many years at the State University of Haiti. He has repeatedly taken
a leadership role in the resistance to internationally imposed
development projects detrimental to Haitian national product. He was
particularly outspoken against the United States initiated eradication
of Haiti's pigs -- which undercut the local indigenous economy where
farmers saved money in the form of raising swine -- and the pig served
as a kind of bank. This is known today as the Creole Pig Disaster. Mr.
Chalmers was imprisoned and tortured for his role in the organized
resistance to military dictatorship in  Haiti. He lost some of the
hearing in his left ear as a result.

An authority on issues such as Haiti's external debt, the significance
of free trade policies for Haiti's food security, the complexities of
privatization and Haiti's potential to present viable economic
alternatives for development, Mr. Chalmers has been a valuable
participant in a number of international and south-south initiatives
working against corporate dominated globalization and for a people's
globalization.

For more information on Camille Chalmer's speaking tour or to find out
about other speaking events focused on the FTAA, please contact Donald
Foster, donald@globalexchange.org or call 415.255.7296 ext. 352.