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Call to Cancun: Sept 1-15, 2003

The next ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization will take place in Cancun, Mexico on September 10-15.  From the 8th on, a huge mobilization will greet the meeting with creative protest and visions of alternatives.  The governments involved in the WTO are going into this meeting with strong disagreements on key areas such as agriculture.  Many of the key elements that derailed the Seattle ministerial are in place--strong internal divisions, heavy opposition, and, we hope, a powerful presence of resistance in the streets.  Below is our report on some of the preliminary organizing we did in August in Cancun and Mexico City.

If you can come to Cancun, do!  Internationals are needed and wanted, and it will be an incredible opportunity to meet and work with people from the global south, from students to campesinos.

If you can't come to Cancun, consider donating some money to help students and campesinos from Mexico come.  Cancun was chosen because it is isolated, expensive, and inaccessible. Students and campesinos, the major groups mobilizing, have little money but much courage and determination.  Many would like to come, but can't afford to.  With support and solidarity from the north, however, we can mount a large and effective mobilization that can derail the meeting.

And if this ministerial fails it will be the third failure in a row, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the organization.  The struggle for global justice will still continue on many fronts, but the tide will have turned.

You'll find information on how to donate money at the end of this report, as well as information on the organizing and the actions.

Thanks for your support,

-- Starhawk

Cancun Report:

Lisa Fithian and Starhawk from RANT [Root Activists Network of Trainers] went to Mexico from July 27 - August 7th where we met with organizers and local activists in Cancun and with campesino organizers in Felipe Carillo Puerto, three hours south.  We went to Mexico City on Aug. 1st and spent the weekend with students at an encampment focused on the WTO and then attend a three day gathering/meeting of Via Campesino.  We also met with lawyers coordinating the legal support for the September mobilization.

Our primary interest was plans for nonviolent direct action.  Here is a quick summary of what we learned:

In Cancun itself: Cancun is a new city that was created as a tourist center for the Mexican economy.  As such there is no history of social movements or many activist based organizations.  And thus few organizers have much direct action experience.

The Comite de Bienvenida or the Welcoming Committee in Cancun is focusing on logistics--finding spaces for camping and the forums as well as food. They are also working with the global network of NGO's called Our World is Not for Sale in organizing the forums, fair trade fair, etc.  There is more than enough work for what is basically a small group of people and they have been having trouble locking down specifics.  They are negotiating with the city but there are only so many places for up to 10,000 people to camp.

Another local Cancun group, more youth and arts, is emerging and they are focused on organizing youth and beginning to do outreach and mobilization in the local community. They are very interested in bring a cultural component to the streets in the form of puppets, drum processions, and so on. They have a base that hang in the Parque las Palapas, which is the cultural center of Cancun City.

Puente de Cancun is a small group of internationals sponsored by Global Exchange that is 1) providing info bulletins to the world, 2) organizing the media convergence, and 3) serving as a link to internationals.

We felt that a convergence space for organizing and supporting the street actions is needed, and Mike, who was working with the Puente, was very, very helpful to us, and is looking into housing/convergence space. We are fundraising to help cover the costs and people can make donations to RANT in order to secure one.  More info below.

Two of the students from Mexico City are also going down to Cancun this week [early August] and will be on the ground organizing from now on.  They both have a good bit of direct action experience, which is great.

Finally on Cancun--the criminalization campaign has begun.  There were daily articles about foreign instigators, over 200,000 coming, about folks bringing explosives and so on.  The usual. But this all has a chilling effect. Also two years ago at the WEF protests the police were pretty brutal, so there is a memory of that and some desire on the part of the Comite not to see direct actions. All of this is evolving, however, as it is clear that there are different sectors with different visions and plans.

Students:

The student activists we worked with are great and inspiring and experienced, sophisticated organizers.  Over the weekend encampment, they formed a new group, Alianza Global S-9/Global Alliance S-9, to be a coordinating body for all the groups planning street actions, particularly on the 9th.

They came from numerous groups and several cities and have some clear ideas about what they would like to see happen.  While many want to go, it is very expensive since the whole trip will be about 10 days with bus travel and all. The students are hoping that international activists will contribute to help reduce the individual cost, thereby allowing more to go.

They are writing a letter and where people can send money, but short of that RANT is also willing to help get money where it needs to go.  (Info below)

Campesinos:

Via Campesino and its related Mexican compesino organizations, (UNORCA being one of the main ones) are planning to mobilize 5-10,000 people. Again, numbers depend partly on money. They are organizing their own forums on the 8th and 9th and then planning a day of action on the 10th which is the opening day of the Ministerial and the day focused on agriculture.

They are planning actions across the hemisphere to disrupt international commerce as well as a plan to march to the Convention Center to deliver a declaration.  Their intention is to get inside to read it.

They will march on September 10 and probably support whatever actions take place on September 9, although it seems unlikely that they will take a major role in them.  The students made a proposal to them and they have a big meeting soon to make a final determination on their plans.

The rough calendar:

• 8/30   Festival in Cancun, Student trainings in Mexico City
  
• 9/1     Convergence Center opens we hope
  
• 9/2     Alternative Media-Tech Convergence
  
• 9/4     Student busses leave Guadalajara
  
• 9/5     Student busses leave Mexico City
  
• 9/6     Training Weekend, evening assemblies/spokes begin
  
• 9/8     Students arrive in Cancun, evening Assembly to plan actions.  Compesino Forums begins
  
• 9/9     WTO delegates begin to arrive.  Proposed action day.  Actions will depend on numbers and logistics, but some powerful ideas are in the works.  Compesino forums begin, NGO Opening Forum.
  
• 9/10    Ministerial Opens, focus on agriculture.  March and possible actions by Via Campesino. Alternative Trade Fair, through the 12th, out on the island
  
• 9/ 11   Zapatista Encuentro Dia de la luto --memorials for victims of war and violence, anniversary of the coup in Chile as well as 9-11 in U.S.,  Street processions, offrendas, cacerolazo (beating pots and pans, a South American political tradition), and a Chilean pena at night are suggestions.
  
• 9/12    Services under discussion at ministerial: suggestion to be in the streets of Cancun City offering services to people: free food, water, medical care, etc.
  
• 9/13    Mass March against War and Free Trade
  
• 9/ 14   Ministerial Closes, possible Fiesta on the beaches?
  
• 9/15    Mexican Independence Day

Copyright (c) 2003 by Starhawk. All rights reserved.

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