WTO Update — Day 4 of 5: The WTO's Cancer on Democracy

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Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:39:46 -0600 (CST)

" Global Trade Watch " <publiccitizen

[FAIRTRADE] WTO News 4/5: The WTO's Cancer on Democracy

 

 

WTO Update — Day 4 of 5

 

 

 

The WTO's Cancer on Democracy

 

Dear Fair Trade Activist,

 

Over the last three days, we've sent you emails about problems with

the World Trade Organization (WTO) model, how it exacerbates poverty,

pushes the race to the bottom in workers' wages, and promotes a system

of one-size-fits-all rules that are eating away at our democracy

worldwide. We've asked you to write letters to the editor about all

these issues — if you haven't done so yet, please do!

 

Today, we'd like to tell you a little about the un-democratic way that

the WTO operates on a day-to-day basis. If you were a trade minister

for a developing country, you'd have a lot of free time on your hands,

because the real discussions at the WTO are in invitation-only

sessions called " green rooms. " In these sessions, the big boys invite

in a few friendly developing countries and then tell everyone else to

take it or leave what comes out.

 

Then there's the anti-democratic way that protesters have been treated

in Hong Kong, both before and during the WTO Ministerial. WTO

proponents have long pushed the WTO as key to " democracy-building. "

However, the way that most poor country negotiators and civil society

protesters of the WTO have been treated around here has been anything but.

 

Thousands upon thousands of protesters from across the globe converged

in Hong Kong this week to protest the WTO's decade of

poverty-inducing, one-size-fits-all rules. First, there was the

300-person " blacklist " of those the Hong Kong government was going to

stop in the airport and ship home. If you got in, it was off to a

distant park — behind a big fence outside the venue to ensure no one's

concerns would be heard.

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=64235625 & url_num=6 & url=http:/\

/www.thebusinessonline.com/DJStory.aspx?DJStoryID=20051212DN002889

 

Plus, the South China Morning Post reported last week that foreign

domestic workers in Hong Kong, mostly from Indonesia and the

Philippines, were told not to join in any anti-WTO protests, and if

they did join the protests, they would risk losing their jobs and

being deported.

 

If those involved in the WTO Ministerial were really interested in

promoting democracy, they would welcome the chance to engage in a

conversation with people from around the world who share concerns

about the WTO's effects on their countries. What is the WTO so afraid of?

 

Please write a letter to the editor on the WTO's myriad problems, and

stay tuned for our last installment tomorrow: Alternatives to the WTO.

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=64235625 & url_num=7 & url=http:/\

/action.citizen.org/pickMedia.jsp?letter_KEY=327 & t=WTO.dwt

 

 

Sincerely,

The Global Trade Watch Team