Peaceful protest at the WTO

A personal account of marching in a peaceful protest on September 13, at the WTO here in Cancun, Mexico.

I was walking along the roadside on my way to the 'big march’ of September 13 when I saw the great god Chac get his head stuck in a low hanging power line. Grey as the rain, taller than 3 people, and made to be able to twist in the wind, the god Chac was a puppet built on a rolling wooden base. I asked a paint bespattered ‘activista’ what he was doing here. He explained that the indigenous god Chac is the god of rain, and he is unhappy at the move at the WTO to privatise water, which Chac gave to everyone. It was really quite an ingenious puppet, and a very creative and eye catching tool to focus a message. Mighty Chac rolled back a bit, the activists with him lifted the power line above his head using poles, and then all of us proceeded towards the march route, like a troupe of strange gypsies. I loved the fact that the outflung hands of the god bounced just a little, looking for all the world like he was saying “You want some? Come get some! Come on, I’ll have you!”

As we neared the start of the march we went past a highly guarded and very important institution, which was surrounded by riot police in full uniform. It was a Burger King. I sat there and the thought crossed my mind that we need no greater indication that the WTO protects the interests of the corporations and multinationals than a Burger King being protected by 20 riot police. “Protecting a better burger”. This particular Burger King had been the < href="http://images.indymedia.org/imc/cancun/video/2/aire_video.mov">scene of a bit of a ruckus the day before. I understand that was supposed to be a symbolic action was misinterpreted and that a window was broken. Everyone I talked to about it said that that was a mistake. As they always do, the local media has been painting the protestors here as violent thugs , and incidents like this just confirm those kind of portraits in the minds of the local shop owners. Everyone I talked too regretted deeply that this had happened.

And then the march itself came through,. What a noise! What a display of colour! The soundsfrom the march were overwhelming and varied, ranging from Zapatista songs, to African songs of protest, to traditional South Korean songs from the trade unions. Something very human in me loved to see all the movement and the life, which in no way detracted from the seriousness of the issues that brought all these people together; farmers, trade unions, environmentalists, human rights workers, the black bloc, the green bloc, animal rights lobbyists, aid workers, and indigenous people. I joined in the march and we all proceeded towards point zero. Point zero was the place where the police had erected a barricade on September10,and it has been transformed by the suicide of Lee Kyueng Hae. Arriving there I saw a spot commemorating Lee, set that to show how profoundly his actions have touched the people he protested with.

When I got to point zero I found that the police had drawn back about another kilometre, then had erected a much stronger barricade across the street. As I walked I ran into Starhawk, and Vandana Shiva. A whisper had run up and down the line asking all the women who wanted to to go to the front – it would be the women who were on the frontlines to take the barricades down. I walked forward with a lady who was walking with the RANT (Root activists and network trainers) collective. The plan was that the women would get up and cut through the fence, then the Korean delegation would pull down the barricades. It was only when I got to the fence I realised what that idea really involved.

The fence was probably about 300 meters wide. It was a series of tall boxes made of metal, one next to the other, constructed to be very hard to pull down. Behind the fence were the riot cops. Behind them were the armour plated trucks with the water canons trained on the crowd.

As the main crowd got to the fence I took the time to interview Starhawk. She said that we can’t forget how serious what is happening here is. The significance of Lee’s tragic action must be understood as a reflection of the growing feeling of desperation that many many small farmers are feeling. His death has struck the people here hard. Said that right now is a crucial time not just for the globalisation movement, but for the citizens of the world whose lives will be touched by the decisions reached here at the WTO. These decisions range from issues such as access to water, to the right to say no to genetically modified organisms, to the right to regulate against child labour. One positive note is that the coming together of the civil society, especially now, is strengthening international networks, and collectively developing skills to meet challenges such as the barricades the WTO erects to keep the voices of the people out.

Walking around a little I saw the red cross, and the activist street medics. I also saw some people physically reclaiming the streets, by dipping theirs hands in flour and putting their hand prints right onto the road. I also saw some marvellous improvised tools to get through the barricades – it was a huge wheely bin, a big dumpster on wheels, on top of which a whole log was tied – it was a modern day battering ram. The mood of the crowd was very different As the rest of the march got to the barricades I saw that the women were up the front, then the Korean delegation and then the black bloc. The Koreans had brought huge ropes, at least 30 meters long. The plan was to cut through the wire, then use the ropes to literally pull the barricades down. A huge cheer went up as the first women scaled the fence, sitting ontop with bolt cutters, to start cutting through barricades.

After what could be cut away from the barricades was cut away, the job remained to take the heavier pieces of it down. The Koreans had brought 30 meter ropes, which took some time to properly attach to the barricades. Then it took successive waves of pulling to bring the barricades down, because they had to rip it up in pieces. This rope technique is actually a traditional Korean celebration held on the same day that many people celebrate Thanksgiving day. The black bloc actually formed a circle around the Koreans, holding people back from the ropes. Then when the signal came down to pull, the crowd around starting yelling wildly “Tira Tira!!”

As each wave surged backwards, the broken pieces of the barricades were moved out from the front of the crowd. When the final pull surged backwards, the crowd screamed madly, and the pieces were moved rapidly away. I think that was a dangerous moment, because the police stepped up to fill the breach in the wall. But this is the moment that some people had been training for for the last few weeks. The women and the Koreans turned around away from the police and asked people to sit down.

First the people at the front sat down and then the people in the middle and towards the back. Then the people at the front got on the megaphone and asked the people not immediately at the barricades to site down. “Sit down”, “Sit down” came cries from the those seated. As more and more people sat down, the crowd started calling for the press to sit down, and it was an amazing sight to see the normally distant press sit down.

After everybody sat down a deep and lasting silence descended, in memory of Lee. What could have been a very confrontational situation was turned around, using a tactic first brought to public attention at mass rallies by Ghandi, almost half a century ago. Breaking the silence, a member of the Korean delegation spoke, and someone translated this into English and Spanish. These speeches went on for some time.

After the speeches, the Koreans burned two effigies. Afterwards, the Korean delegation handed out white flowersand the protest body tried to move peacefully towards the WTO. When the police continued to block the way, the protest body moved away, back up the road.to party.

I walked away from the protest frankly starving. The feeling that I was left with was one of inspiration. It was estimated that 10 000 people were at that protest. And it was peaceful. Not only was it a fitting tribute to the memory of Lee Kyung Hae, but it was a of how strong the civil society can be when we work and plan together.