The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum will be meeting in San Francisco and progressives need to be there on Saturday, November 11 and Sunday, November 12.
Freedom Road Socialist Organization opposes APEC as a tool of imperialist exploitation, and stands in solidarity with those planning to protest this meeting, such as the People’s Counter-Summit being organized by the No to APEC Coalition.
APEC is a forum in which governments and big corporations collude and contend with each other to exploit the workers and oppressed peoples of the Asia-Pacific region. It is a part of the imperialist strategy of neoliberalism, which seeks to deregulate trade, privatize services, increase the exploitation of the oppressed nations, and advance the agenda of big corporations.
APEC exists for the same reasons as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), and the United States-Mexico-Canda Agreement (USMCA, known informally as “NAFTA 2.0”): to maximize profits at the expense of working and oppressed peoples.
Freedom Road Socialist Organization stands for a world free of capitalist domination. Institutions like APEC are notorious for meddling in the internal affairs of nations, offering economic ties or “development” loans on the condition of doing away with labor regulations, privatizing public services, or getting rid of tariffs. The U.S. has the most influence within APEC, and its chairperson is Joe Biden. In addition, the U.S. has launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which excludes People’s China, and seeks to limit Beijing’s growing influence.
Wherever the big corporations and their political representatives gather to plot and scheme how to better exploit the workers and oppressed peoples of the world, the people’s movements should be in the streets to denounce and expose them. Let’s make them feel our strength in San Francisco November 11 and 12.
No to APEC!
