INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON GLOBALIZATION | June 5, 2003
Week of Local Capacity-Building toward WTO in Cancun 6-13 June, 2003
IFG is collaborating with local community organizations in the Yucatan to share information and explore collaborative activities for the September 10-14, 2003 Ministerial of the World Trade Organization in Cancun.
June 6, Isla Mujeres: Fishing Community Forum IFG will meet with the President of the Yucatan1s Association of Artesenal Fishermen, Eduardo Perez, the Coordinator of the World Forum of Fishermen (WFF), Pedro Avedano, and leaders of the artesenal fishing communities on nearby Isla Mujeres. Discussions will focus on deepening local communities' understanding of how WTO decisions could impact fisheries, and planning activities for the week of September.
June 7-8, Cancun-Riviera Maya: WTO and Tourism Workshops In May, the USTR announced that one of its top priorities for Cancun is advancing the liberalization of "tourism services" under WTO. Cancun1s Comite de Bienvenida is setting up special briefings for leaders of various communities involved in what is the only industry in Cancun and the nearby Riviera Maya: tourism. WTO talks on a proposed new agreement on "tourism services" are not getting much attention internationally, but there is great local interest among hotel workers, tour operators, taxi drivers, and small businesses in the region who are fighting against industrial tourism.
June 9, Tihosuco: Indigenous Peoples1 Meeting Mayan leaders have convoked a preparatory meeting in Tihosuco for indigenous communities to learn about the WTO1s role in biopiracy and the Plan Puebla Panama. Tihosuco was a center of indigenous resistance against the Spanish colonists in the Guerra de Castas centuries ago, and it is still considered today to be a rebel community today. Currently, they are fighting against the privatization of their land and the region1s genetic resources. WTO1s decisions in Cancun could impact both of these struggles. Also present will be the International Indian Treaty Council to explain the history of indigenous peoples1 fight against WTO, to share their common declaration issued in Seattle, end to explore possible collaborations for September.
June 10-12, Feilpe Carillo Puerto: Forest Groups1 Meeting Forest groups will convene for three days of meetings to plan collaborative activities from June to September. WTO decisions in Cancun impacting forests include the liberalization of foreign investment and restricting the use of ecolabels. The meeting will include leaders of Mexican forest communities who are fighting against foreign logging companies as well as forest communities in the nearby Zona Maya who have been certified as sustainable and are at risk by WTO1s mandate on ecolabels. Forest groups key in the Seattle mobilization, including American Lands Alliance, Pacific Environment, Rainforest Action Network, Friends of the Earth, and Greenpeace, will also participate.
June 13, Press Conference: Cancun Convention Center Participants in the weeks activities will hold a press event in front of the Cancun Convention Center, where the WTO is to meet, to explain what the trade summit means for life in the Yucatan. There has been little information in the Cancun region about the local impacts of WTO rules. The weeklong information campaign is intended to give local leaders the opportunity to develop an informed understanding of WTO and to urge people to come to Cancun to peacefully express their views.
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On September 9, 2003, the day before the WTO meets, IFG will hold a Teach-in on the WTO at the Teatro Cancun. For more information see: www.ifg.orgINTERNATIONAL FORUM ON GLOBALIZATION:
