Peru Free Trade Agreement threatens world's most diverse ecosystem

Marked by snow-capped peaks, vast forests, and the echoing cry of Andean condors, the tropical Andes are the richest and most diverse region on Earth. Of the tens of thousands of plant and animal species in the Andes, many are endemic and irreplaceable. Far too many are also threatened with extinction by expanding agriculture, deforestation, mining, dams, and road-building. In addition, oil exploration and development is a relatively new and serious threat on the eastern slopes of the Andes and the adjacent Amazonian lowlands of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

The Bush Administration forced the controversial Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) through Congress last summer by a slim two-vote margin. The closeness of the vote was due to many fundamental concerns including the lack of strong and enforceable labor and environmental provisions and the increasingly broad rights granted to corporations to attack public-health and environmental provisions. After a great deal of organizing, many California chapters, including the Bay Chapter, helped persuade representatives to vote no on CAFTA. The entire California Democratic delegation voted no on CAFTA, and that was a huge victory!

Now the Bush Administration has presented Congress with the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) - based on the same flawed provisions as in CAFTA. The agreement offers only token, unenforceable provisions on labor and the environment, while dramatically expanding the rights of corporations to attack legitimate public-health and environmental protections in secret trade tribunals.

The Peru FTA would open up the Amazon rainforest to further exploration and further clearcutting by foreign corporations and by indigenous communities struggling to survive in a world where international trade does not bring sustainable economic benefits for the world's working poor.

Trade agreements do not have to be this way! The Sierra Club is working hard to ensure that international trade promotes and fosters environmental conservation. Existing agreements, like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and CAFTA, are made up of bad rules that make it difficult for countries and communities to protect their natural resources.

WhatYouCanDo

Within our Chapter's congressional delegation, Rep. Ellen Tauscher has indicated that she may vote with the Bush administration on this issue. Contact her at:

House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
(202)225-1880
fax: (202)225-5914.

Urge her to reject the U.S.-Peru FTA.

To learn more about the U.S.-Peru FTA, go to sierraclub.org/trade