|
3rd
Cancun News Bulletin: Things Come Together...
10 August 2003
Welcome
to the 3rd Global Exchange Cancun Bulletin from Puente a Cancun
...
As the organizing activities bear fruit, the panorama for the
Cancun
mobilization has become filled with a myriad range of Forums,
meetings,
workshops, convergences, actions and demonstrations. It would
take a volume
to outline all the activities planned around the 5th ministerial;
this 3rd
bulletin could not possibly list them all. Apologies to any group
or event
that might have been left out. We have also included links to
other more
comprehensive listings. Please write [email protected]
if you have any
additions for the next bulletin.
1. News from Cancun
2. News from Mexico
3. News from the Rest of the World
4. WTO Organizing resources
5. The Official World of the WTO
6. Media update
7. Visa update
1.
NEWS FROM CANCUN
a. Forum and Camping Spaces Confirmed
The spaces for the Peoples Forums and Camping have been approved
by the
local Benito Juarez Council to the satisfaction of activists and
the
negotiators from the Comité de Bienvenido and OWINFS (Our
World Is Not For
Sale). Confirmed are La Plaza de la Reforma, el Parque de las
Palapas, the
Kuchil Baxal Gym, Expo Cancun. The Casa de la Cultura and the
Beto Avila
Stadium are to be arranged with the state government.
The expected 20,000 protesters will be comfortably accommodated
in these
locations for the prospective Forums and camping, although finer
details
regarding water supplies, sanitary facilities and communications
have yet to
be nailed down.
According to the Comites calculations, the Social Forum will count
on the
participation of 10,000 peasants, 2,500 european activists, 300
Koreans,
3,000 indigenous from all over Mexico, 2000 Trade Unionists, and
a 1000
environmentalists.
Check out the Comité De Bienvenida, website here -
http://www.cancuncommittee.org
Our World Is Not For Sale (OWINFS) have been doing great work
on the ground
in Cancun, supporting the Comité de Bienvenido and organizing
the Peoples
Forum http://www.ourworldisnotforsale.org/global.asp
b.
People¹s Forum for an Alternative Against the WTO
Actions focused on creating pressure in the capitals on governments
or
representatives leaving to come to Cancun to negotiate pressure
to represent
the people. Direct non-violent action, blockades, strikes. etc.
Reading of a
Global Declaration at all international actions.
09 September - Tuesday
People¹s Forum: Opening Day
10 September - Wednesday
People´s Forum: Suggested theme of ³Agriculture²
11 September - Thursday
People´s Forum: Suggested theme of ³Violence and Trade²
³International Day of Mourning² (or other name) to protest
victims of war,
military terrorism and economic violence Distinct public activities
(vigils, etc?) Remembering the victims of the New York attacks
and the
Military Coup in Chile in 1973, an appalling act of terror that
claimed many
thousands of lives.
12 September - Friday
People´s Forum: suggested theme of ³privatization or
services².
13 September - Saturday
Big Anti-WTO March: to coincide with international day of demonstration.
(Co-inciding with the National holiday-Día de los Niños
Heroes-in Mexico)
Global March against Military and Economic War. Marches all over
the world
to show our global power.
14 September Sunday
People´s Forum: Suggested theme of ³Natural Resources
and Environment².
Closing Event of the Peoples Forum and Declaration of our Victory(¡)
over
the WTO.
Global
working group:
At this time, the global working group consists of the following
organizations and networks: Bienvenidos a Cancun (Cancun local
organizing
coalition); Mexican Space Towards Cancun; Continental Campaign
Against the
FTAA; the Our World Is Not For Sale Network; and others. Any group
interested in joining this global working group, please contact
Lisa Hoyos
([email protected]) at
Our World Is Not for Sale, Gonzalo Berrón
([email protected])
at the Continental Campaign Against the FTAA or at
www.rmalc.org.mx or www.asc-hsa.org.
c.
Good News From Mexico´s Peasant Organizations
http://www.viacampesina.org (http://www.viacampesina.org) Mexican
affiliate UNORCA
(National Union of Regional Autonomous Peasant Organizations)
are mobilizing
at least 1,500 of their rank and file peasant and indigenous members
and an
international delegation of some 200 delegates from farmer organizations
from around the world to participate in the International Farmer
Forum (8th,
9th), and some 8,000-10,000 in the International Peasant March
"For Peasant
Rights and Food Sovereignty" on Sep 10. The UNORCA delegation
will also
participate in the People's Forum, September 11-14, and the International
March and Global Day of Action Against the WTO, September 13.
Other Via
Campesina member organizations from the El Campo No Aguanta Mas
- "The
Countryside Can´t Take it Anymore" coalition
are also mobilizing their
membership toward the Farmer Forum and March in Cancun.
An
appeal - UNORCA needs funds on an emergency basis to help charter
buses.
They are sending out an appeal on Tuesday, August 12, asking people
to
contribute what they can, from a few dollars to a few hundred
to a few
thousand (each bus costs over a thousand dollars). The appeal
-- which
will also be on their web page as of the 12th will take
people to a secure
server where people can make contributions via credit card (tax
deductible
in the USA). This is great way for those who can´t get to
Cancun in person
to make difference in letting the Mexican people expres their
opposition to
the WTO.
UNORCA web page
http://www.unorca.org.mx
Read Via Campesina's convocation to Cancun here -
http://viacampesina.org/art_english.php3?id_article=228
d.
Update on the Cancun Alternative Media-Tech Convergence ~ Building
Alternatives, Disseminating Realities, September 1-7 in Cancun:
There
is less than a month until the Alternative Media-Tech Convergence
and
Tidal Wave Cancun descend on Cancun with the explicit goals of
putting the
media tools and skills into the hands of the people.
http://espora.org/cancun03/index.pl?CancunAlternativeMediaTechConvergence
We
are in a mad dash to lock down funding for this incredible and
rare
initiative. Any support is tremendous support and everyone can
donate by
direct deposit into our http://paypal.com account by using the
[email protected] paypal account.
This is
the fastest and easy way to support the Alternative Media-Tech
Convergence.
We
are reminding people that there is limited space available for
participants and that people should begin to register themselves
and the
workshops that they would like to give as well as receive. Recent
workshops
that have been announced include:
Human rights observation and media use in non-violent direct action
settings
Forum on Communication Rights vs. 'Free Trade'
FM/Server workshops
Popular communications and popular news
FM production, edition and live radio
Construction of Low Power FM transmitters and antennas
Gender and Communications (Experiences from women making media)
Tactical Media
To
register for this event please go to
http://espora.org/cancun03/index.pl?RegistroRegistration
or send an email to
[email protected].
The DEADLINE for registration is
AUGUST 24th.
e.
The International Women¹s Forum is the space for
the articulation of
women¹s demands, within the People¹s Forum for an Alternative
to the WTO,
before and during the meeting of the Minister of the World Trade
Organization, in Cancun, in September 2003.
In México, the women¹s networks have created a space
for the articulation of
forces, Mujeres Hacia Cancún/ Women on the Road to Cancún,
which includes,
amongst others, the National Network on Gender and Economy and
the Latin
American Network Women Transforming the Economy (REDGE-REMTE),
the World
March of Women, the Mexican Action Network on Free Trade (RMALC),
the
Women¹s Commission of the Continental Social Alliance-Mexico,
the National
Coordination for a Feminist Millennium, the Gender and Trade Network-Mexico
and the Association of Women in Network (AMMOR).
For more information, please contact: [email protected]
[email protected]
Tel/fax/télécopieur: 52 (55) 5 544-2202, Tel. 52
(55) 5 544-6902
f.
Political and Cultural Opening Event,
9th Sep, promises to showcase a
variety of local, national and international acts that will raise
the spirit
of the assembled multitude. A dream list of international performers
would
include Manu Chao, Eddie Vedder, Michael Franti, members of Maldito
Vencinidad, etc. Nothing is confirmed as yet, but a wide variety
of artists
and musicians have been invited. Maybe we should all make an effort
to
invite personally our favourite performers. There is space for
all!
http://www.focusweb.org
g.
International Forum on Globalization Teach-in, September
9th, Teatro
Cancún. Please see www.ifg.org
for more information.
h.
Fair Trade Fair hosted by IATP,
Comercio Justo Mexico, Oxfam, and
others. Please see http://www.fairtradefair.com
for more information.
i.
New Youth Organizing Group on the ground, Cancun.
Uniting youth, students, counter-culture and non-violent direct
action
enthusiasts, the JUVENTUD GLOBAL group began a campaign of raising
awareness
by tabling and flyering a local Tanguis market, holding a press
conference
and showing the WTO video.
They can be contacted at [email protected]
Their slogan is For the Art of Change.
j.
Legal issues Mexican legal observers are organizing
to insure that the
rights of demonstrators will be respected. They promise to have
a full team
on the streets between the 7th and 14th September.
Red Nacional "Todos los derechos para todos": [email protected]
k.
World anti-WTO leaders in Cancun
This week Walden Bello (³The Other Chomsky..²) and Peter
Rosset (Food First,
Via Campesina) spoke to the Comité de Bienvenido and assorted
activists on
the balcony of the Comité Offices. The tropical night was
balmy and a hush descended upon the assembled as the
Filipino man spoke.......
http://cancun.mediosindependientes.org/feature/display/20/index.php
l.
Hotel Booking.
Hotel seems to be almost entirely booked out for the duration
of the
Ministerial. There are some spaces left in Hotels around the centre
of
Cancun City. For those interested in individual or block booking
of the
remaining hotel rooms, contact this friendly travel agent.
Hugo´s Mayaworld Travel Hotels
[email protected]
Tel 998 810 4350
www.mundomayatravel.com
Lic. Hugo Menendez S.
For
comprehensive information on hotels in the Hotel Zone (the beach)
, try
perusing the official WTO site Mexican Organizing Committee website
where
you can make your reservation directly with the hotel of your
choice. They
may assume you are part of the official activities.
For the real collective experience, the free Mass Camping Facilities
could
be availble from the first week of September. (Not confirmed).
But certainly
from the 7th 14th.
2. NEWS FROM MEXICO
a. News From Chiapas
The Chiapas State Meeting on the road to Cancun, 2nd August.
Report by Ana Laura, Puente a Cancun.
70
representatives from 30 social organizations met in San Cristobal
to
discuss strategy and tactics towards mobilizing for the WTO ministerial
in
Cancun in September. Represented were peasant organizations, women,
indigenous, social organizations and NGOs from almost every region
of the
state.
Many more people were unable to attend the meeting due to their
commitment
to attend the Zapatista mobilization to be held in the Aguascalientes
in
Oventic 6th-9th. Economic reasons made it impossible for many
delegates to
make the long trip to both events.
The Ciepac video, ³The WTO: A Threat to the People²
was received by the
assembled with interest, followed by shut down the WTO in Seattle,
showing
the real and tangible link between Seattle, Chiapas and the WTO
protests in
Cancun.
As the debate moved around to logistical questions, strategy emerged
as an
important element. How exactly could we ³De-rail the WTO?²
The prospects
outlined presented many challenges.
The agreements arrived at the Honduras Forum (MesoAmerican Forum
Against
Neo-Liberalism) were articulated including their decision to try
to ³Destroy
the WTO². Lively debate ensued. Questions abounded as to
the logistical
situation
regarding the Women¹s Forum, the Media Convergence and the
Peoples Forum etc.
A caravan will set off from San Cristobal on the 7th September
with a
cooperation of 300-500 pesos required.
The actions planned in Cancun include participation in the various
forums,
street action, support networks and solidarity with the nation
wide actions,
including the Mexican piqueteros blocking main artery roads and
borders.
The
next state meeting will take place 23 August.
b.
Zapatistas look towards the Cancun Horizon:
August 9, Oventic, Chiapas , the EZLN inaugurated a ³Just
Government² in the
name of Humanity and Against Neo-liberalism. Before a large gathering
of
Zapatistas, activists and press, the leadership announced the
creation of
³Caracol² centers as a point of interchange between
the indigenous
communities and the people beyond. The attempted launch of Radio
Insurgente ( Chiapas.mediosindependientes.org ) was frustrated
by the
authorities blocking the airwaves. Commandante Zebedeo spoke of
the
gathering in Cancun and denounced the policies of the WTO claiming
³another
world is possible². No concrete details yet of how the Zapatistas
will
support the mobilizations or how many representatives they will
send with
the Chiapas Caravan.
c.
Quintana Roo State Forum on the WTO
On July 27 the Comité de Bienvenida a Cancún organized
and hosted a Quintana
Roo state forum in Cancun City on the WTO. It brought together
60 people
representing local, national and international organizations from
NGO¹s to
teacher and peasant groups. The forum was meant to inform local
leaders of
what the WTO is, how it could effect people locally and to update
everyone
on the state of organizing against the Cancun ministerial. Speakers
addressed issues ranging from the risks the WTO presents to local
fishing
and forestry to strategies being used by NGO¹s inside the
WTO meeting.
d.
The South Resists Forum
Merida, Yucatan, August 2nd and 3rd, 2003.
Around 60 people representing over 25 organizations from the states
of
Campeche, Tabasco, Quintana Roo, Yucatan, Guerrero, Chiapas, Mexico
City,
and some from other countries met at this forum in Merida, Yucatan
to
discuss the impacts of neoliberal politics in the Yucatan peninsula.
They
also discussed the initiatives that will be made during the activities
parallel to the 5th Ministerial meeting in Cancun.
The
groups that met in Merida came from different experiences working
directly with popular groups in the themes of human rights, fair
trade, the
defense of the environment, gender equality, respect for sexual
diversity,
the promotions of biodiversity and recently the forces against
the war in
Iraq, where they have succeeded in bringing more than 800 people
to
demonstrate in the streets of Merida.
September 8th there will be a final meeting and also the first
before the
the beginning of the People´s Forum, in order to finalize
details.
At
the end of the successful forum, the following conclusions were
reached
-
We are ready to combat, from the place and the area in which each
organization works, this economic, social, and cultural model
that wants to
impose, from the centers of international power, the exclusion
and
marginalization of our people.
We will participate in the People´s Forum, as a converging
force of national
and international civil society that will make a series of alternate
activities to the Ministerial meeting of the WTO in Cancun next
September.
³We believe that society should know the grave dangers for
the people that
hide the open discrimination that permeates from institutions
like the WTO.
We want to present a united front against this economic politic
that has so
many social and environmental costs. The globalization that we
want is not
one of exclusion, accumulation of capital in the hands of few
at the cost of
many, but the globalization of justice, of equality, of respect
for human
rights of individuals and of communities, in order that this be
a world en
which all of us can live with dignity...²
A series of nationwide Forums are being organized throughout August
North Forum Torreon, 23-24 August
Tlaxcala Forum Tlaxcala, 14-16 August
Occident Forum 11-12 August
3.
NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
a. Puente a Cancún Report
Back from Honduras
Mid-July in Honduras
The
Jornadas de Resistencia, in Honduras (http://foroshonduras.org.hn)
during mid-July were based on a series of forums held in Esperanza,
Intubicá
and Tegucigalpa. These forums led to a series of agreements made
about the
WTO. The most significant agreement made in the round table discussions
held during the IVth Mesoamerican Forum was to launch a collective
and
concerted campaign against the WTO titled ³All of Mesoamerica
for the
Destruction of the WTO.²
The working group agreed upon and defined the following general
themes as a
point of departure for the Mesoamerican campaign against the WTO:
Parallel
local and regional mobilizations in each of our Mesoamerican
countries on September 9th 2003 with the expressed goal to derail
the WTO
negotiations.
Promote wide participation of civil society in Cancún during
the Global Week
of Mobilizations from the 7-14th of September 2003.
Conduct educational workshops on the WTO, call press conferences,
public
forums, and show a general rejection of the neo-liberal economic
politics
imposed by the WTO
After
hours of discussion in the working group dedicated to the WTO,
with
more then 50 participants from dozens of organizations from all
of
Mesoamerica (México to Panamá) the US, Canada, and
several European
delegates, a variety of detailed agreements and actions were made
decided
upon:
Although
there had been much murmuring in the wind about the possibilities
of organizing a Central American Caravan from Panamá to
Cancún, the
subcommittee created to discuss the viability of this option deemed
that the
logistics would be extremely complicated, costly and that time
was now short
for organizing such a mobilization. No Central American Caravan
will be
organized.
Most Central American countries will send small delegations representative
of the organizations and popular movements in each country. CIEPAC,RAMLC,
UCIZONI will help with the visas for Honduras/Guatemala, Nicaragua/El
Salvador, and Panamá respectively.
The following actions were decided upon as parallel actions in
each country:
Guatemala: joint action with Chiapas for mobilizations
at the border in
La Mesilla/Cd. Cuauhtemoc, mobilization at the Mexico/Guatemala
border La
Libertad, actions in Guatemala City against the BID (International
Development Bank) and the World Bank
Belize: Mobilization at the border with Mexico, mobilization in
front of
the OAS
Honduras: actions at the BID
El Salvador, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica: Parallel actions
to be decided
upon, marches, road blocks etc.
Each country will name at least one person to update and post
to Cancun
Indymedia http://cancun.mediosindependientes.org
Indymedia Cancun and Indymedia Chiapas will create categories
and subpages
dedicated to Mesoamerica and the parallel actions taking places
throughout
Mesoamerica during the week of resistance, to then be further
established
with the ultimate goal of creating an independent Indymedia Mesoamerica
http://chiapas.mediosindependientes.org/?category=2
Please find a complete Spanish list of all conclusions, action
plans, and
summaries of the working groups that participated in the Forums
on
Biological and Cultural Diversity and the Forum Against Damns
and For Life
held in Esperanza, Honduras at the following link
http://chiapas.mediosindependientes.org/display.php3?article_id=105479
The
final declaration of the IVth Mesoamerican forum can be found
at the
following link,
http://chiapas.mediosindependientes.org/display.php3?article_id=105514
The
declaration of the third Via Campesina forum also held in
Tegucigalpa,
Honduras can be found at the following link,
http://chiapas.mediosindependientes.org/display.php3?article_id=105504
Via Campesina confirmed the following dates for their action plan
in Cancun
September 8-9 Campesino Forum in Cancun
Septemer 10 Global day of Action for Via Campesina
September 11 day of Symbolic action
Declaration
against the International Development Bank
http://chiapas.mediosindependientes.org/display.php3?article_id=105494
b.
Via Campesina: Turn your back on the WTO!
Via Campesina demands that governments reject the Harbinson text
proposal
and that all negotiations of agriculture in the framework of WTO
must cease.
Read their convocatoria to go to Cancun and more here -
.http://viacampesina.org/art_english.php3?id_article=118
c.
International Parliamentary Network: Declaration on the Fifth
Ministerial
Conference of the WTO in Cancún/México, 10- 14 September
2003
We, members of the International Parliamentary Network (IPN),
founded on
occasion of the World Parliamentary Forum in Porto Alegre/Brazil,
are deeply
committed to the idea that another economic and trade paradigm
is possible,
which benefits the majorities of the populations all over the
world.
We believe that the present economic world order, with the Bretton
Woods
organisations as the leading institutions on economic and financial
questions on the one hand, and the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
on the
other, does not lead to this aim. Since the creation of the WTO,
in 1995,
the gap between the rich and the poor has widened dramatically.
The Doha
Development Agenda, agreed upon at the Fourth Ministerial in November
2001
in the capital of Qatar, is not worthy of its title.
In the run up to the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the WTO,
which is going
to take place in Cancún/México, on September 10-14,
2003, we as
parliamentarians, propose the following minimum set of demands
to be covered
by the conference agenda. We engage ourselves to support these
demands in
all parliamentarian debates and resolutions before the Ministerial
and to
lobby for them during the Conference itself.
d.
Report from Montreal Mini-ministerial July 27-28, - WTO Frustrated,
Protesters On a Move.
Activists converged in Montreal last week to protest against the
Mini-
Ministerial of the WTO where trade ministers from 26 nations came
together
to finalize their position before Cancun. Two marches were called
by the
organizers; on Monday approximately 2,000 people marched for immigrants
rights and the ³freedom of movement². This march was
followed by a ³snake
march² the next day at 7:30 AM with the hope of disrupting
the meetings.
After being charged by the police about 700 die-hard direct actionists
roamed through the city and caused a significant amount of property
damage
to downtown Montreal before dispersing. All together 342 people
were
arrested in Montreal, the majority who were participating in the
passive
Green Zone, a safe-space for activists who did not want to participate
in
the ³snake march². The protests were tainted by the
overwhelming police
presence and intimidation, including snatch squads who arrested
several
medics and a key organizer who wasn¹t participating in the
march at the time
of his arrest. According to the Canadian department of Foreign
Trade and
Development last week's informal meeting was ³a useful reality
check on the
work that remains to be done to bring the Doha Development Agenda
to
fruition.² Canadian Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew gave
clues to the WTO¹s
fragility by commenting that ³With only one month left before
Cancun, we
must now urgently focus our energies on resolving problems in
key areas, if
we are to hold true to the goals we set when we launched the Doha
Development Agenda." http://www.Cmaq.net.
>From Montreal to Mexico, resist the WTO!
>From Montreal to Mexico, Resist the WTO!
The anti-capitalist coalition against the FTAA calls for 5 days
of direct
action, creative resistance and popular education.
http://montreal.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=9059&group=webcast
In the spirit of Seattle and Quebec, and in solidarity with protests
in
Cancun, Mexico:
http://montreal.resist.ca/articles/acc030616e.htm
e.
Tens of Thousands of Anti-WTO Activists Mobilize in France
Tens of thousands of anti-globalization activists gathered in
southern
France on Friday 9 for a three-day rally taking aim at the upcoming
World
Trade Organization talks in Mexico.
Both local officials and festival organizers say the festive event
on the
bucolic Larzac plateau drew between 50,000 and 100,000 participants,
with
militant farmer Jose Bove -- recently out of prison -- leading
the charge.
The Cancun Ministerial figured prominently in discussions...Many
thousands
of Europeans will come to demonstrate their opposition to the
WTO this
September.
http://cancun.mediosindependientes.org/newswire/index.php
f.
Worldwide Day of Action Against Globalization and War, September
13th.
While the WTO meets amidst the Bush Administration¹s continued
reckless
quest for empire, a powerful series of grassroots mobilizations
for peace
and justice are being planned for September. Organizations around
the world
will be organizing o protest the WTO on September 9th, and for
a Worldwide
Day of Action Against Corporate Globalization and War on September
13th.
These actions will remind our trade ministers that they are accountable
to
the citizens of their own country not the trade ministers
of the rich
nations. Read more here -
http://chiapas.mediosindependientes.org/display.php3?article_id=105474
Read the Call to Action for the US at
http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/wto/805.html
g.
Sacramento Revisited
What did we learn from the mobilization in Sacramento in terms
of Cancun?
Doyle Canning points out that there was a lot to celebrate in
terms of the
organisational effort. The official meeting was a USDA/USAID/US
State Dept.
meeting focused on agriculture technology--specifically biotech
and genetic
engineering, and building international support for the US's position
against the EU on this issue and their WTO case. In response to
this,
there was significant and unprecendented outreach to many grassroots
organizations. It was actually the LARGEST PROTEST IN US HISTORY
AGAINST
GMOs, and was framed as being a " mobilization for food soverignty
democracy and justice"--linking with anti-war & empire
movements, as well as
groups like the United Farm Workers, United for Peace and Justice,
the
Sacramento Central Labor Council, the Justice for Janitors Campaign,
and
over 130 others--and of course the 400 million strong via campesina
and
over 200 organizations from the South. The local Sacramento Coalition
for
Sustainable Agriculture, and the umbrella Mobilization for Food
Soverignty
Democracy and Justice (bottom lined by the Institute for Social
Ecology
Biotechnology Project) were the mainstays doing the public events
in
Sacramento, and it was regarded by most everyone who works on
agriculture
and biotech issues as a huge success.
Lesson to take away from the Sacramento mobilization? Even in
a difficult
time of war and decreasing Civil Liberties, we can still organize
and claim
important victories....
check out the mobilization website, http://www.sacmobilization.org
4. ANTI-WTO MOBILIZING RESOURCES
a. ANTI-WTO organizing video
available
Focus on the Global South has created an incredible video available
for
organizing against the WTO. Titled ³WTO: Why is it BAD for
You?² this
incredible tool should be shown in any community you want to organize
to
participate in any anti-WTO activities. Let people from around
the world
explain why the WTO is BAD for YOU. The video is split into 6
parts which
can be viewed separately on the Focus on the Global South webpage
http://www.focusweb.org/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=71
Available in English and other languages from Focus on the Global
South.
Contact: [email protected].
Available in Spanish from ATTAC Venezuela. Contact:
[email protected]
b.
http://www.cancun2003.org/en/nav/index.html
This website is provided by the Boell Foundation of the German
Green Party
and is available in English and Spanish. The aim is to provide
you with
up-to-date information in the run-up to the meeting as well as
providing
day-to-day information on decisions and discussions during the
Ministerial.
The main focus rests on the issues of water, agriculture, WTO
reforms, GATS
and Gender. For further information about the Heinrich Boell Foundation
please visit http://www.boell.de
c.
IndyMedia Cancun is up and running!
http://cancun.mediosindependientes.org
is open for publishing and that we
highly recommend people to begin to publish their information,
articles,
press releases, multimedia etc onto the page.
d.
CIEPAC, a Chiapas-based think-tank has produced some
excellent resource
materials dealing with the WTO in Spanish. Read their ³Frequently
Asked
Questions about the WTO² here, and follow the links...
http://cancun.mediosindependientes.org/newswire/rate/15
e.
Great materials on the WTO in Spanish
Also available on RMALC¹s site, http://www.rmalc.org.mx
f.
Trade Observatory (http://www.tradeobservatory.org/pages/home.cfm)
is the
new home of WTO Watch. In 1999, the Institute for Agriculture
and Trade
Policy (IATP) opened WTO Watch in preparation for the WTO's Seattle
Ministerial. As trade, globalization and sustainable development
issues have
evolved since the Seattle Ministerial, so has WTO Watch. In response
to the
growing interest in global trade policy, IATP has expanded its
focus and
merged WTO Watch with the Trade Observatory. Check out the document
centre
for the last word in analysis of the WTO trade policies as well
as a variety
of declarations against the WTO from across the world.
http://www.tradeobservatory.org/Library/index.cfm?c_id=45&language=Eng
g.
Third World Network almost-daily updates
Third World Network¹s staff in Geneva and around the world
provide almost
daily updats about the state of play in the negotiations and how
we can
become involved in monkeywrenching the WTO process and Derail
the WTO.
http://www.twnside.org.sg
for back issues of TWN Information Service.
h.
Some informative links in the document library and related sites
on the
Our World Is Not For Sale site-
http://www.ourworldisnotforsale.org/cancun/NewsUpdates/07.htmç
i.
Global Exchange anti-FTAA and anti-WTO organizer¹s guide
Global Exchange has produced a 60-page organizer¹s guide
to How to Stop the
FTAA and WTO. Send an email to [email protected] or download
it at
http://www.globalexchange.org/ftaa
j.
Some strategic questions posed for those of us about to protest:
How to co-ordinate the activities and communications of NGOs and
others
inside-the-negotiations with those of us on the outside
How to ensure that mass-protests, marches, events, etc., in the
town are
de-criminalised. They need to be seen by Mexican authorities as
politically
legitimate, and official WTO delegates and Mexcian authorities
need to be
held accountable for any repressive measures.
How to get the mass media to understand that the protests are
more than just
anti-WTO, and get them to understand the various civ.soc. messages.
How to ensure agent-provocateurs are effectively isolated from
the
mainstream peaceful protests.
(From: http://www.emg.org.za/Documents/CancunActivites2.doc)
5. THE OFFICIAL WORLD OF THE WTO
a. Draft WTO Cancun Declaration
Leaked
A leaked draft declaration for the September WTO Ministerial in
Cancun sets
surprisingly high expectations for negotiators. The declaration,
a binding
statement to be agreed upon by the end of the Cancun meeting,
pushes for
broad agreement in areas such as agriculture, industrial tariffs,
access to
medicines, and the expansion negotiations into new areas. Currently,
negotiations in nearly every major area are stalled by wide and
contentious
differences.
Read the Declaration here- http://www.tradeobservatory.org/pages/home.cfm
b.
Some great news to cheer up anybody dreaming of a better world...
As Samuel Johnson famously observed, nothing concentrates the
mind like the
imminent prospect of hanging. Five weeks before their ministerial
meeting in
Cancun, Mexico, World Trade Organisation members are gripped by
intimations
of impending nemesis. Unless they get down to business fast, the
event is
more likely to prove a testament to collective failure than a
decisive
advance towards freer trade.
>From the Financial Times (and they really should know)
http://www.tradeobservatory.org/News/index.cfm?ID=4622
c.
TWN updates on state of play
If you really want to know what¹s happening every day in
the halls of
Geneva, such as the recent update from 10 August:
³The 77-member African, Carribean and Pacific (ACP) Group
of countries held
a Trade Ministers' meeting in Brussels on 31 July to 1 August,
mainly to
coordinate their positions for the Cancun Ministerial Conference.
The Ministers adopted a Declaration with quite detailed positions
on most
issues on the WTO's Cancun agenda. Two highlights were:
-- A statement that there is no basis for the commencement of
negotiations
on the Singapore Issues.
-- A call to WTO members to ensure the decision-making process
at the
Cancun Ministerial is "transparent and inclusive" through
adopting
procedural rules. They put forward four proposals, including that
draft
texts contain the views of various members, that Chairs of working
groups
be appointed by all members, and that all meetings be opened to
all
members.²
Check out the Third World Network¹s website and updates.
http://www.twnside.org.sg
6.
MEDIA UPDATE
a. New York Times series on the results of the WTO on developing
countries
The New York Times is writing an incredible series called ³harvesting
poverty² about the effects of developed-country¹s agricultural
policies on
poor farmers around the world. It can be accessed at
http://www.nytimes.com/harvestingpoverty.
b.
The WTO-bloc and the Six-Million-Dollar Man.
Its like a script you couldn't even make up - the Cancun Mayor
is
threatening to cancel the WTO meeting if he is not supplied with
$6m
dollars (immediately!) by the Federal Authorities to guarantee
the security
of the town...Local Mayor Juan Ignacio García Zalvidea
has threatened to
³pull the WTO Ministerial² if the Federal Government
didn¹t chip into the
budget to cover the Municipal costs of hosting the event.
³We are here working to ensure that there is no violence,²
said the Mayor,
referring to the problem of controlling the so-called ³globalifobicos²,
³
but if the support is not forthcoming from the Federation and
the (WTO)
organizers, then we have a right in our own town to re-consider
the whole
deal...²
It seems fairly certain that the WTO-bloc and the Six-Million-Dollar
Man
will come to some amicable arrangement.
Cancun.Indymedia reprints the article in Spanish from the local
press
http://cancun.mediosindependientes.org/newswire/display/19/index.php
c.
Local Media Report
With little over a month to go, the local newspapers are filling
with
reports about everything concerning the Ministerial, from the
kind of hotels
booked by the activists to the CIA and Scotland Yards visit to
inspect the
Airport facilities in Cancun. If, as many analysts say, the ³Battle
of
Cancun² will be won or lost in the media, then its imperative
that we take
note of Zapatista wisdom and use the word as our weapon.
The
Comité de Bienvenida¹s campaign to raise awareness
over the political,
social and economical issues around the WTO has made some progress
in the
local press. While the press has mostly covered the WTO Ministerial
in terms
of its impact on tourism and security issues dealing with the
threat
of³globalifobicos², the Comites constant lobbying and
weekly press
conferences are helping to change that one-sided representation.
Recent
editions Por Esto actually began referring to protesters as Globalicriticos,
or Globalialternativos, instead of the derogatory globalifobicos.
On the
other hand, the right-wing Voz Del Caribe continues to focus almost
exclusively on the threat of violence and encourages an almost
paranoid
vigilance on the part of ³concerned citizens and property
owners².
Campaign
of vilification against foreigners?
In a report on Radio Turquesa, journalist José Segobiano
stirred up local
fear of a group of violent foreigners that were coming to tear
Cancun apart.
Specifically, the journalist referred to foreigners that are currently
on
the ground in Cancun that are not from Cancun and don¹t care
about Cancun
and are in touch with people outside the country that are looking
at
strategies to break the law, confront the police and, it¹s
inferred, disrupt
the lives of the honest people of Cancun. They referred to people
that might
try to fly to the convention center with hang gliders (see No.
11 of our
last bulletin) and others preparing for confrontation by inquiring
of what
kind of self defense aparatus they ought to bring. It¹s clear
that the
journalist read the contents of at least one list-serve that¹s
used for
organizing towards Cancun.
7.
VISA UPDATE
The joint Mexico-WTO hosting office has been sending around representatives
from their ³NGO Attention² section to let foreigners
who are accredited to
attend the WTO know that they are required to secure ³FM3²
in order to
attend the activities in Mexico. As far as we know, this is only
for those
people who have been officially accredited with the WTO to attend
the
offical WTO meeting. Those people who are attending the People¹s
Forum, the
Farmers¹ Forum, or other activities do not need to get an
FM3. The FM3 costs
$99 and is applicable through your local Mexican consulate. For
more
information you can contact Guadalupe Gonzalez at [email protected]
or [email protected].
About
Puente a Cancun....
We
are a group of international activists (Mexico, US, Ireland) based
in Cancun and Chiapas, who came together to promote and help logistically
towards a successful mobilization against the WTO in Cancun. With
our experience from a variety of global mobilizations we will
provide support for the logistical effort on the ground and with
our office in the Comité de Bienvenida headquarters in
Cancun, we will provide information and orientation for people
arriving from other parts of Mexico, the US and indeed, the four
corners of the world.
Read
our convocation towards Cancun here –
http://www.protest.net/LASC/calendrome.cgi?span=day&day=10&month=9&year=2003&list=Off&state_values=
or
contact us here – [email protected]
MEXICO
SOLIDARITY NETWORK PROGRAM NOTES
For more information about these upcoming programs click the links...
August
11-16: Congressional Delegation to Mexico City and Chiapas
September 10-14: Cancun WTO Ministerial (MSN delegation)
September 14-Oct 5: Women
Confronting Globalization (w/ Mayan Women's Weaving Collective
"Jolom Mayaetik") Speaking tour to and through IL, KS,
MO, OK, TX
September-October: FTAA Road to Miami Speaking tour: US
Southeast
October: Immigrant Rights Speaking tour: US Southwest
November:
Women Confronting Globalization Speaking
tour: US Northeast
November
19-21: Mobilization
to Confront and Expose the FTAA Ministerial in Miami
November 22-23: School
of the Americas Protest at Fort Benning, Georgia
Mayday 2004: Labor
(Organized and otherwise) Delegation to Mexico (link to last
delegation)
Summer
2004: Women's Delegation to Chiapas and Ciudad Juarez
|
