SANTIAGO: Dozens of people protested on Wednesday in Chile against the signing of the new Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which will take place on Thursday in the country’s capital.
“No to modern slavery, no to the TPP-11” and “The TPP and TPP-11 are the same!” were among the statements written on banners carried by the demonstrators, who protested against the new TPP agreement in the area between the Defence Ministry and La Moneda Palace, headquarters of the Chilean government.
Eleven countries of the Pacific region will endorse the new Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) this Thursday in Santiago without the participation of the United States, an ambitious project with which they intend to send a signal against protectionism.
The organisers of the protest told media that the TPP “is an international economic agreement that, despite criticism from the public for the lack of information and public debate, will be signed this Thursday”.
“We are going to continue fighting because it still must be approved after the vote,” said activist Patricia Nuñez, who added that protests were also carried out in other cities nationwide and that they had sent hundreds of letters to Chilean deputies to voice their disapproval of the new TPP.
The new Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), also known as TPP-11, was the result of negotiations that took place in 2016 involving 11 countries: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Japan, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
The signatories of the original TPP, signed in February 2016, also included the United States, but US President Donald Trump issued an order in January 2017 to withdraw the US from the pact.