Don't say a word

The authorities are making some bizarre decisions about what can be written here in Cancun. From what you can wear to banners you can carry, the security here has final say.

Today there is a large march planned for downtown Cancun, outside the 'hotel zone', and security is extremely tight. Ruth Ramos, from the Mexico City office, had a banner in her bag that said "Free People from Forced Trade" for the march when she was stopped at a checkpoint.

The policemen felt that this expression was too dangerous to allow to be shown on the streets of Cancun, and confiscated the banner. It appears that the right to free speech is suspended when the WTO is meeting.

Marcelo Furtado, the head of our delegation in Cancun, was subjected to another form of censorship this morning, when he tried to enter the security zone where our office is located.

Our allies at Friends of the Earth have made lanyards for accreditation badges that say "explicit consensus" in several languages. The lanyards were a reference to a principle of the WTO, that all decisions be based on consensus, that one 'no' vote could derail a decision. Of course, poorer countries are bullied into giving their 'consent' to rich country demands over the course of the 'negotiations', so explicit consensus is a nice idea, but never used. FOE wanted to remind countries that they do technically have the right to be heard, and encouraged people at the meeting to wear their lanyards in order to show support for poorer countries.

The security forces here decided that that wouldn't do. When Marcelo tried to enter the convention centre with his 'explicit consensus' lanyard, the police at the front gate asked him to remove it.

While the WTO may try to appear to be open and accountable, it seems that some ideas, like 'explicit consensus' and 'free people from forced trade' are too dangerous to be voiced anywhere near WTO meetings.