Letter from Cancun #2

Second dispatch from Rochester Representative to Demos against the WTO <!--break--> Hi again. Another long hot and humid day with 1 dead and several injured. Today was the day for the campesinos to march to the congress center with the internationals for support. It was to be a peaceful march with negotiations between the campesinos and the police. But shortly after the first barricade went down, a handful of protestors began throwing rocks at the police--who returned them just as quickly. Passage to the second barricade had been mediated with the police provided the rock throwing stop. But with the heat, and perhaps a shortage of water, things escalated quite rapidly. Several marchers received head injuries (I treated 3, including 1 requiring sutures.), numerous suffered the effects of heat exhaustion, and by the end of the day, a Korean man had taken his own life. Some say he was just frustrated with all the pain and suffering the WTO has created around the world, and that today is a national holiday in Korea which honors departed ancestors-similar to the day of the dead in Mexico. Perhaps he was depressed and frustrated--something we may never know. But I would like to believe he has joined his ancestors, to work from the other side, so-to-speak. Many internationals have joined the Korean cluster in the streets outside the hospital to mourn this man`s death, and the remainder of us move through our own thoughts and feelings, trying to piece together the meaning of today`s events. In a half hour I will join my cluster for a full moon healing circle which the public is invited to and we will call in the spirits of all our ancestors, as we sing and spiral together in dance as one pulsating body--searching for the healing and meaning of life today. The campesinos have already begun to leave and return to their home. How they feel I have no idea, but we will spin threads of love and power to cast over them in their homeward journey. And tomorrow, we will gather again in the park to memorialize all those who have died for this cause--including the victims of 911, of war, fallen activists and campesinos everywhere. And I wonder if the Korean man`s death and his actions have served as a deterrent to further violence--at least this week in Cancun. Gloria

<p>Second dispatch from Rochester Representative to Demos against the WTO</p> <!--break--><p>Hi again.<br /> Another long hot and humid day with 1 dead and several injured. Today was the day for the campesinos to march to the congress center with the internationals for support. It was to be a peaceful march with negotiations between the campesinos and the police. But shortly after the first barricade went down, a handful of protestors began throwing rocks at the police--who returned them just as quickly. </p> <p> Passage to the second barricade had been mediated<br /> with the police provided the rock throwing stop. But with the heat, and perhaps a shortage of water, things escalated quite rapidly. Several marchers received head injuries (I treated 3, including 1 requiring sutures.), numerous suffered the effects of heat exhaustion, and by the end of the day, a Korean man had taken his own life. Some say he was just frustrated with all the pain and suffering the WTO has created around the world, and that today is a national<br /> holiday in Korea which honors departed ancestors-similar to the day of the dead in Mexico. Perhaps he was depressed and frustrated--something we may never know. But I would like to believe he has joined his ancestors, to work from the other side, so-to-speak. </p> <p> Many internationals have joined the Korean cluster in the streets outside the hospital to mourn this man`s death, and the remainder of us move through our own thoughts and feelings, trying to piece together the<br /> meaning of today`s events. In a half hour I will join my cluster for a full moon healing circle which the public is invited to and we will call in the spirits of all our ancestors, as we sing and spiral together in<br /> dance as one pulsating body--searching for the healing and meaning of life today.</p> <p> The campesinos have already begun to leave and return to their home. How they feel I have no idea, but we will spin threads of love and power to cast over them in their homeward journey. And tomorrow, we will gather again in the park to memorialize all those<br /> who have died for this cause--including the victims of 911, of war, fallen activists and campesinos everywhere. And I wonder if the Korean man`s death and his actions have served as a deterrent<br /> to further violence--at least this week in Cancun. </p> <p>Gloria</p>