Call to mobilize against the WTO in Cancun

No to the WTO! In the Wake of the War, Here Comes the WTO:

September is stormy season every year on the Caribbean coast of Cancun, and this year could prove to be one of the stormiest seasons registered for quite a while. From Mexico to Brazil, the US to India, Europe to Central America, everywhere, groups, organisations and individuals are mobilizing to come raise their voice in protest against the destructive economic policies of the World Trade Organization.

The WTO was last seen publicly (disgraced) in Seattle, 1999, whereupon they snuck off in 2001 for a remote get-together in Doha, Qatar, hiding behind the incumbent dictatorship of that tiny kingdom to do their dirty business. They have now gained enough confidence to appear before the general public again, albeit in the mega-beach resort located at the end of the Yucatan Peninsula and the beginning of pure neo-liberal nightmare

Ladies and gentlemen of the many headed hydra of resistance, you are all invited to a celebration! We will be celebrating the possibility of another world that we hold in our hearts and are building together, today. In Cancun in September, tens of thousands of protesters will gather to express their opposition to the discredited economic policies formulated by the WTO, the global trade police who set the rules that nobody but they decide.

As the WTO slouches towards Cancun in September for their 5th Ministerial Meeting, a growing swell of opposition gathers to confront the Capitalist Globalizers. The Road to Cancun is filling with a multitude of voices uniting in one single deafening roar of Ya Basta! Enough is Enough, Shut Down the WTO!

JOIN THE GREAT WAVE OF PROTEST ROLLING TOWARDS CANCUN SEPTEMBER 10-14!!!

Through a Foro Alterna (Alternative Forum) we will formulate our inclusive world vision, politically and economically; through a Foro Cultural (Cultural Forum) we will express all the possibilities and desires of this burgeoning movement of movements that is changing the world; and in a Foro Social (Social Forum) we will demonstrate the practical everyday strength of the vision of our movement. No-nonsense workshops on Fair Trade practices, organic food production, and de-centralized autonomous assemblies will guide us towards a rainbow of progressive, necessary steps to re-construct our war-torn and ecologically devastated globe.

In the spirit of Seattle, Prague, Bangkok, Quebec, Genoa, Quito, Porto Alegre and the many other mobilizations against neoliberal globalization, we will demonstrate both our anger and our joy in protest, using our creativity, our resolve and our resilience to shut down the operations of the WTO. In the spirit of the Zapatistas; Walking we learn, creating a new world together as we protest the old one that is failing us.

From the vast nuclei of organization, in Cancun itself, in Mexico City, in Chiapas, in California, in Seattle, and on the East Coast, we have a growing number of groups and committees self-organizing on the road to Cancun. In Mexico, farmers groups and trade unions are assembling in caravans. Political parties and grass roots organisations are mobilizing their rank and file, from Zapatistas to Electricistas, women's groups to student groups, the sea of protest gathers. Internationally, farmers in Central America, the landless in Brazil, fishermen and women in India, environmentalists from the US, and organic producers of Europe have booked their tickets. Globally, activists from thousands of NGO's, unions, affinity groups and independent media are preparing to descend upon Cancun for another unforgettable week in September.

In 5 months time we have the opportunity to confront the WTO and effectively stop its itinerary, its crusading agenda to open up economies (Laissez-Faire), to strike down national laws that "hinder" free trade, and give the nod to punitive sanctions on countries that fail to adhere to its free trade gospel. In 5 months we have the opportunity to gather once more, united in voice and purpose to demonstrate the strength and vitality of our movement of movements. In 5 months we will answer the urgent need to act in this time of capitalist accumulation and resource wars to say YaBasta!, and demonstrate that another world is not only possible, but growing here right now, with us, in our struggle, in our action and in our practice.

Shut down the WTO!

Another World is not just Possible, But Here, Now - Join Us in Making It!

Equipo Rumbo a Cancun
April 10, 2003


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