-Caveat Lector- Dave Hartley http://www.Asheville-Computer.com/dave from http://www.indymedia.org Indymedia's Daily Bulletin of Underreported Anti-WTO Activism, is now available in PDF format. Issues No.1, No.2, No.3, No.4, No.5. Also check out films at Freespeech, like why the Zapatistas organized when NAFTA was passed. Latest News: Why the talks failed: An inside perspective by Robin Denberg 12:52pm Tue Dec 7 '99 I wasn't sure if they would let me in to the Convention Center when I approached Friday evening, despite having the necessary credentials. Wearing a military jacket, hemp hat, and a 'No to WTO' pin, I wasn't exactly the classiest person walking through the checkpoints. But after removing the pin, I was in. I decided to go in to the Ministerial gathering following initial information that the talks were going to fail. I was there to find out whether the impossible was possible. The first person I met was a Belgian lady, who immediately told me the Belgian delegate had just told her the talks were done. I then confirmed this with some French Greens, who had spoken with the French delegation. It was incredible! The protesters and progressives had won. For the reason the talks failed, the best description came from a high-level U.S. journalist. "The talks failed because of the protests. They failed because of the chaos. They failed because Clinton pushed the labor working group. And they failed because the South [countries in the Southern Hemisphere] rebelled." The issue of transparancy and openness within the WTO was also a factor. Early in the week, the U.S. and European Union (EU) colluded and created WTO proposals which were mutually beneficial. These included liberalizing trade in sectors including forest products (Global Free Logging Agreement), toxics, fisheries, MAI, e-commerce, agriculture and services. They expected to do what they had done in the past--brow-beat other delegations into accepting them "by consensus." Unlike the consensus model utilized in jail solidarity or out in the streets, their version of consensus generally tells other parties not to block proposals or risk IMF and World Bank funds. But the South balked and it was because of these countries that there was no new round of negotiations. They were infuriated that the U.S. and EU refused access to African delegates for negotiations during the week. African delegates were also given incorrect or no information about important negotiating meetings which they later found out about. They also were furious that they had so little time to read the proposals and modify them. The buzz on the inside was that many delegations believed the U.S. orchestrated the demonstrations and protests on Tuesday. Their rationale was that it was an effort to shorten the period in which the proposals could be reviewed. Of course, we know it was no ruse. The folks who shut down Seattle were the first wave in knocking the WTO off course. In addition to the delays and the inability to access negoations, the South decided on no new round because of labor standards. The U.S. labor movement forced the Clinton Administration to ensure a working group on labor, which would, in particular, seek to eliminate all global child labor and encourage unionization. Clinton's attempt to convince other delegations that this was a good idea was thoroughly rejected, however. One Pakistani delegate mentioned to me, "We would have supported a new round...but the labor standards were unacceptable to us." For the wrong reasons, in the eyes of progressives, the lack of support for the labor issue was the straw that broke the camel's back. Rebellion ensued and the talks took a nose dive. On the other hand, however, it was the work of progressive labor which caused the issue to be brought to the fore. Perhaps now, we can look to ensuring these labor standards in other fora, such as the International Labor Organization. --Robin Denburg ================================= *** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. *** DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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