WTO Talks Collapse

The 5th WTO Ministeral meeting at Cancun was quite eventful. Here's a round-up of what took place.

The first major demonstration was held on Thursday the 10th. Lead by the Campesinos, activists marched to the red zone, where police had errected a fence to prevent them from protesting at the location of the talks. Activists clashed with police as they tore parts of the fence down and attempted to get past the police line. The most dramatic action of the day, however, was done by Lee Kyung-hae, a Korean Farmer who climbed the police barrier, held up a sign saying "The WTO Kills Farmers" and then commited suicide by stabbing himself with a knife.
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Article by Lee Kyung-ha

Actions continued throughout the week and came to a peak on Saturday the 13th - the international day of actions against the WTO. Thousands marched again to the police line and this time the entire fence was torn down by a group made up of only women while punks, black blockers and others provided protection from the police. Meanwhile, other activists diguised themselves as tourists, snuck past the police blockades and disrupted the hotel zone where the meetings were taking place.

Demonstration at the fence,
Actions at the hotel zone:
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Meanwhile, inside the WTO, poor nations formed a tight alliance aiming to remove the rich nations' agriculture subsidies. Initially a group of 21 nations, they grew to be 22, then 23 large. When the US, EU and other large nations refused to give the G23 their demands, the G23 backed out of the talks causing the 5th WTO ministeral to collapse.
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Summary of the week's events

Letters from Cancun by a Rochester activist:
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