Nov. 11, 2023Updated: Nov. 12, 2023 12:04 p.m. (SFChronicle.com)
A summit to protest the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference drew more than 1,000 people to San Francisco State University on Saturday.
Organized by the No to APEC Coalition, the nine-hour “People and Planet Over Profit and Plunder” summit was the first of several actions the group planned for the week, including a march Sunday. Organizers said the focus of Saturday’s summit was those who are affected by policies discussed at APEC but aren’t given a seat at the table to talk about their needs and solutions.
- APEC in S.F.: How APEC is impacting San Francisco traffic this morning
- More on APEC: How to navigate street closures and transportation woes
The topics addressed by the day’s speakers and panels included workers’ rights, climate policy, Palestinian freedom and the Israel-Hamas war. They criticized the actions and “neoliberal policies” of the U.S. and the rest of the 21 economies represented at APEC as prioritizing profits over human rights.
Keynote speaker Brandon Lee, a San Francisco native and Indigenous rights and environmental activist, focused on the resistance to what he called repressive policies and the wealthy elite. Lee was the target of a suspected assassination attempt in the Philippines in 2019 after he protested multinational companies that he says have profited from the destruction of the environment.
“I know firsthand that the backdoor trade deals peddled by APEC will not benefit the people,” he said. “They only benefit the corporations and careless countries.”
Lee called on attendees to keep pushing back throughout the week and after APEC is over.
“Rage, rage!” he continued. “We will fight for a better future for all.”
During a panel called “The People Fight Back,” Raymond “Mong” Palatino, an activist and former member of the Philippine House of Representatives, echoed Lee’s statement that APEC benefits corporations and the wealthy at the expense of workers.
“APEC is … Asia-Pacific Economic Colonialism,” he said. “APEC means support for governments, even if they are corrupt, repressive, not legitimately elected by the people, as long as these governments support APEC doctrines.”
Throughout the event, the energetic crowd, which included people from around the country, chanted “shut down APEC,” “no to APEC” and “people over profit,” and frequently burst into applause to support speakers.
Donna Denina, a master of ceremonies for the event, said that APEC’s theme for the year, “Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All,” is disingenuous.
“This kind of profit-driven economy has no care about the environment,” Denina said. “The only thing that is resilient in any of this is the resiliency of the people to fight for a better world.”
Reach Danielle Echeverria: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @DanielleEchev
Written By Danielle Echeverria
Danielle Echeverria is a reporter for The Chronicle’s Engagement and Breaking News team. She recently completed her Master’s degree in journalism at Stanford University, where she won the Nicholas Roosevelt Environmental Journalism Award for her reporting and covered agriculture, climate change and worker safety. She previously interned The Chronicle on the Business desk, as well as at Big Local News, focusing on data journalism. She is originally from Bakersfield, California.
©2023 Hearst Communications, Inc.
