September 14, 2003
Nature documentaries mark end of conference
The meeting has failed to reach an agreement, and that's a good thing. The talks are over, and the televisions inside the convention centre that showed the open proceedings all week are now running nature documentaries on flamingos.
The meeting has collapsed
The EU Agriculture Commissioner, Franz Fischler, has said that the meeting is over. When the EU walks out, the talks collapse. It is official, not a rumour: the talks have collapsed without agreements being reached by the delegates.
Rumours and unsubstantiated stories
The WTO meeting process is very secretive, so all we have right now is rumours. The meeting is either about to fall apart, or the European Union is getting ready for hard bargaining, or there is a comet about to impact the convention centre.
Almost the end of a long long long journey
Feelings and facts
Continue reading "Almost the end of a long long long journey"Green rooms
No, not the rooms where celebrities get their makeup done, but a nasty WTO negotiating procedure that puts rich country pressure on poorer nations that are holding out.
Continue reading "Green rooms"We're not sure how long this will last
A closing ceremony has been scheduled for three o'clock this afternoon, but no one really knows how long this meeting will last.
Continue reading "We're not sure how long this will last"It was a long night
Negotiations inside the 'green rooms' of the WTO meeting continued all night, while outside our team worked to try to influence those negotiations.
Continue reading "It was a long night"September 13, 2003
Peaceful protest at the WTO
A personal account of marching in a peaceful protest on September 13, at the WTO here in Cancun, Mexico.
Continue reading "Peaceful protest at the WTO"Now the real work begins
Earlier today, we got a copy of the document that sets out the new trade rules that the WTO is trying to come up with. We really don't like this first glimpse at what the WTO is trying to agree on here in Cancun. In fact Sebastian, a member of our political team, says this is the worst possible scenario.
Continue reading "Now the real work begins"The ship has returned
The ship that we had prevented from unloading 40 000 tons of genetically engineered maize at the Mexican port of Veracruz has returned, and is now unloading it's cargo. Unfortunately, we can't do all the work of the Mexican government, which is why we are taking them to court to make sure they do their job.
Continue reading "The ship has returned"Protests in the belly of the beast
Despite the tight security around the meeting is being held, the last 24 hours has seen a number of protests in the shadow of the convention centre.
The maize message
We have used maize to make our point throughout this meeting: we have presented it to the U.S. delegation, stopped a 40 000 ton shipment of genetically engineered maize from entering Mexico and handed out small sacks containing maize kernels to delegates. What is the maize message?
Scenes from the protest today
After we pulled down the barriers today, everybody sat down in the middle of the road.
The march has ended peacefully
The march that started this morning was a success, tearing down the barricade set up at the point where the town ends and the hotel zone begins - but remaining peaceful.
Continue reading "The march has ended peacefully"We have some news from the inside
The WTO has released a draft ministerial statement - a 7-page double-sided first draft of the results of negotiations so far. It is a dry, formal document written in bureaucratese, but our political team is reading every paragraph carefully to find out what decisions are being made.
Continue reading "We have some news from the inside"More on the march
Although we've returned from the march, one of our folks has remained in the area to observe events as they continue... The latest news is that the barricades have been torn down,
Continue reading "More on the march"