Letter from Cancun

Rochester local sends report from Cancun WTO demonstrations against , greetings to Rochester Social Forum.

Letter From Cancun

from Gloria Osborne

I am in Cancun at the World Trade Meetings doing support for my affinity group, translating, working in a street clinic, etc. Sun. There are thousands of internationals, campesinos, and students and the objective is to reclaim sacred Mayan land and preserve the biospere and the culture--all things which the WTO seeks to destroy.

We have made huge street "puppets" representing Mayan Gods/Goddesses--Ixchel (moon goddess), Hunapan (rain,water God), Kukulchan, etc. They are angry and they want the WTO/FTAA/CAFTA/PPP out of Central America!! An ecovillage has been constructed where the campesinos are camping with compost toilets, greywater systems, and water catchment systems, and many workshops for all.

The students and the campesinos will be leading the actions with the international community for support. Tomorrow the campesinos plan to march to the conference center where the WTO is being held and surrounded with fences, military-federal-and state police, to do rituals and make offerings for change. If we cannot change them, we can change ourselves and transform the communities we live in, ie reclaim the streets (land).

Thursday there are forums with the Zapatistas all day but I don't know of any actions. Friday is to reclaim the parks and set up examples like model schools of the world we would like to see. (Cancun closed all it's public and private schools this week because of the meetings.)

Whereas the press originally wrote us up as violent and troublemakers, they are now calling us global critics or global propositionists (for change). So far all has been quiet.

Unfortunately there are MANY logistical reasons why it has been difficult to organize here. First, there are few trained activists here since it is a tourist town with few actions (WEF in 2001) so planning was very poor and mostly done by internationals in the last several months. Second, the hotel strip that the conference center is located on is an island with a lagoon situated between the hotel strip and the city of Cancun with only 2 entrances/ exits, both heavily guarded by the military/police. Third, it 2-3 days travel by bus from most places in Mexico--hot, dusty, bumpy travel without air conditioning.

Thanks to international support, 17 buses of students (42/bus) and about an equal number of campesinos have arrived and are here to help create change and reclaim life, land, and culture. Saturday is the big march and demonstration, which has a permit, and Sunday we will either start cleaning up or doing jail solidarity. The feeling from our legal counsel is that no mass arrests of internationals will be made unless for criminal activities. However there is a strong push for jail solidarity if there are arrests so that campesinos and indigenous participants will not be held and tortured, translation-no-one leaves until everyone leaves. Although there are almost as many varied actions and groups represented as the present biosystem, it is still very difficult to predict what may happen here. But being the pagan I am, I really feel the winds of change blowing and the sand shifting. Much love and blessings to all who are helping to make the Rochester Social Forum happen this weekend--

I promise to send tons of magical support from here,

Gloria