arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

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About 7,000 farmers, indigenous people, environmental and social justice activists, and international supporters marched through downtown Cancun on Wednesday, demanding to be heard by the WTO.

The organization Vía Campesina marched for peasants' rights and food sovereignty through downtown Cancún, several kilometers from the Convention Center where the World Trade Organization convened for the first day of its ministerial. In attendance at the march were farmers from Mexico and abroad, members of indigenous groups, social justice and environmental activists, and international supporters.

Eric Olsen, an environmental activist from the United States, came to celebrate his vision of a better world.

"I'm saying no to the WTO because their policies-which allow corporations to privatize everything from water, to food, to land-is destroying the social fabric of the world, is destroying the environment and creating incredible oppression on all the peoples of the world," said Olsen.

"And we're also here to say that we need to shut down the WTO and at the same time we need to build the new world," he continued. "We need to build the alternatives to corporate dominance, which we can do every day."

Alexandra Spieldoch came with the International Gender and Trade Secretariat to demonstrate for women's rights.

"Particularly, we've been calling for a scaling back of the WTO because we continue to state that issues like agriculture, and services, and intellectual property have no business in the WTO," said Spieldoch.

"And particularly for women, who comprise the majority of small producers in agriculture, who are the caretakers in their families when it comes to health, women are the ones left dealing with that kind of a fallout," she said.

Florentina Santiego Ruiz came to Cancún to represent her native community. "We are here to support the indigenous movement," she said. "We belong to the indigenous movement. We're coming from Mexico City but we are from the state of Oaxaca. We are migrants but residents of Mexico City. Every day we suffer from poverty and what we want is for this to end."

Tom Goldtooth traveled from the United States to march in solidarity with all indigenous peoples.

"[WTO policy] has been at the expense of the rights of indigenous peoples," he said. "It's allowed corporations to come in…and exploit and destroy our lands, [our] natural resources. And it's allowed the corporations to come in and steal intellectual rights that the Creator gave us. To protect our seeds. To protect our women and our water. All these issues are very important to us. There has been no transparency. There has been no democracy. There has been no consultation with the poor people. The peasants, the farmers, are indigenous people. So that's why we're here : to stand in solidarity with the Zapatistas. To stand in solidarity with the Mayan people. With the indigenous peoples of Yucatán and Oaxaca. And to stand in solidarity with the campesinos."

The crowd, estimated at about 7,000, marched from the Casa de Cultura in downtown Cancún toward the entrance to the opulent Hotel Zone, where the World Trade Organization convened for the first day of its fifth ministerial. The weather was sweltering and humid, and medics in first aid trucks passed out water to the protesters.

"We are helping the persons that are here because the sun is very hot and we are giving water to them," said Manual, a first aid worker.

Though most activists present were passionate in their beliefs, the most dramatic statement came from a Korean farmer, who straddled the protest barrier holding a sign that read "WTO Kills Farmers." He then stabbed himself with a knife. He was taken to the local hospital, where he died. For more information on this act of protest and sacrifice, please visit read related reports at cancun.indymedia.org.

The campesinos demanded a dialogue with the World Trade Organization, which they criticized for its lack of democratic process. A leader of Vía Campesina exhorted the crowd to pull down the barrier separating the protesters from the hotel strip and the WTO delegates. As the fence began to fall, so did the rain, and clashes between police and protesters escalated.

"The police are responding with gases," cried the campesino leader into a megaphone. "But this fence has to fall ! All of the fences in the world must fall !"

The atmosphere was tense for several minutes, but as the representative from Vía Campesina urged all participants to act peacefully, the clashes diminished and the sun came out again. A Mexican band struck up a tune to boost the morale of the protesters and the crowd slowly dispersed.

This was only the first day of the World Trade Organization's meeting, and more opposition actions are sure to follow until the closure of the ministerial on Sunday.