March 19, 2002
Around 4,000 protesters marched through the streets of downtown Monterrey on Monday to protest current global economic policy, as world leaders discussed how to eradicate poverty on the opening day of the UN Conference on Financing for Development.
Campesinos, NGOs, the Labor Party, students, Americans on spring break and others demonstrated against what they see as the exclusionary effects of free trade, globalization and neo-liberal economic policy. They also criticized the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Some demonstrators adorned themselves with skeleton masks bearing the words "Made in USA," while others covered their noses and mouths out of fear security forces might suppress their march.
"We don't know what the police are going to do. They could use gas," said student protester Cecilia Lopez. "They want to repress us and minimize civil society."
Still others carried large banners against the U.S. embargo of Cuba and signs calling for hope and "another world."
Cuban President Fidel Castro will not attend the five-day summit as originally announced.
Many NGOs complained civil society was excluded from the UN conference, which will be attended by more than 50 heads of state, including U.S. President George W. Bush, high-ranking international lending institution representatives, the World Trade Organization, prominent businessmen and selected non-government organizations.
They argued alternative perspectives, like economic models that focus on protecting human rights and the environment, were not included in the Monterrey Consensus. The Consensus is a draft agreement participants will sign at the end of the summit committing them to taking a series of steps to reduce world poverty.
"The UN conference is a farce and a failure," said Hector de la Cueva from the Mexican Network of Free Trade Action, a national NGO committed to grassroots solutions to problems caused by globalization.
However, UN officials were congratulatory about the inclusion of certain NGO members in the Monterrey process.
It's the first time, they claim, NGO representatives have ever been invited to an official UN conference. They added the Monterrey Consensus - which took two years to create - is a multilateral document that considers civil organizations' input.
"This document is a political compromise, and it is far from perfect," said Mark Malloch Brown, an administrator for the United Nations Development Program. "The political significance of this document is that it shows leaders are committing themselves to reversing the decay of (UN office) Official Development Aid."
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