Activists at WTO Forum Say Isolated Violence Detracts From Their Message
By Kevin Sullivan
Washington PostSeptember 12, 2003
Mikako Iba walked into a muggy gymnasium this morning and laid a bouquet of flowers on a makeshift memorial for Lee Kyung Hae, a South Korean farmer who stabbed himself to death Wednesday to protest global trade practices. "He was not crazy or stupid," said Iba, a farm activist from Japan. "People who are marginalized do seemingly crazy things, even kill themselves, because they feel there is nothing else they can do."
Lee's suicide was the most extreme and publicized act during a march by several thousand activists protesting the policies of the World Trade Organization. As delegates from the WTO's 146 member nations gathered in a convention center on the Caribbean, the protesters marched from downtown to an eight-foot-high barrier five miles away, where a battalion of riot police blocked their passage. On television, the scene was reminiscent of the violent protests that briefly shut down the WTO's 1999 meeting in Seattle; news reports showed screaming anarchists throwing rocks at police and bashing down a section of the barricade.
But in interviews today at the campgrounds and parks where the protesters are based this week, many demonstrators said the few people throwing rocks did not accurately represent their cause. They said most of the protesters were simply farmers, fishermen, students, lawyers, musicians and others whose anger at WTO policies drove them to come here. They said the vast majority of them conduct peaceful demonstrations because they believe officials deciding trade policies do not listen to their concerns. "They write us off very quickly and dismiss very reasonable concerns as either obstructionist or misinformed," said Chris Slevin, a spokesman for the Washington-based group Public Citizen.
Groups have come here from around the world and represent causes as diverse as rain forest protection, organic farming and fighting government corruption, which they say are all related to trade issues. They have staged a nonstop series of speeches, rallies and educational events. Debates have covered all facets of global trade -- from the causes of Mexico's indigenous population to "New Technologies in the Arena of Cultural Production and Art." Speakers have included Guatemalan Nobel laureate Rigoberta Menchu. In La Palapa park in downtown Cancun, protesters sat quietly outside their tents on the day after the march. "Maybe the whole world thinks we are crazy because that's all they are showing on TV," said Ruth Rehwald, 23, an art student from Vienna. "I don't think the people inside have any idea what's going on out here, or what we are doing here. They don't want to talk about why we are really here."
The protesters say international trade policies benefit wealthy countries and have cost millions of jobs in poor nations. Protesters have demanded a greater voice for developing countries and an end to what they see as unfair practices, including more than $300 billion a year in government subsidies to farmers in rich countries. Iba, who flew from Japan to press the case for farmers, said small farmers such as Lee were desperate. "They come here and they are welcomed by barricades and they are ignored by their governments. And they know all they can go home with is the promise of more poverty. So they do things to get attention for their problems." Just before he died, Lee, 56, had passed out fliers that described how South Korean farmers were losing jobs and income because of the "false logic" of liberalized global trade. The flier said, in awkward English, "I am crying out my words to you that have been boiled so long time in my body."
Since the violence in Seattle, many here said, protesters at meetings of the WTO and other international organizations have largely been regarded as a security threat. Millions of dollars have been spent on measures to keep them away from meetings. As a result, protest groups say, they are rarely listened to and have to be disruptive to be heard. At the conference's opening session on Monday, about 25 protesters organized by Public Citizen disrupted the meeting with a chant of "Shame! Shame!" which they continued even after security guards escorted them out of the room. Moments after the protesters were led out, President Vicente Fox of Mexico took the microphone and urged the gathered delegates to respect opposing ideas. "Let us grant a space to groups that legitimately defend different economic alternatives," Fox said. "Let us listen to the ideas and proposals of those who right now are speaking there outside."
At a news conference today, the deputy U.S. trade representative, Peter Allgeier, was interrupted by activists who held up signs that said "The WTO Kills Farmers" and dumped corn kernels all over the table where he sat. "There are a whole range of protesters, most of whom are trying to be constructive in articulating their concerns," said Allgeier, who was hit in the face with a pie by a protester in Brazil earlier this year. "Then there are those who seem to want to get in the way and be disruptive. We do listen to protesters and people who have different views who present them in an appropriate way."
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