The death of Lee Kyung Hai, the president of the South Korea Federation of Farmers and Fishers who took his life by stabbing himself at the Farmers March on Wednesday, has profoundly affected the protesters present in Cancun.

Mr. Lee’s act was one of deliberate political statement, one that none of the South Korean delegation knew beforehand. His objective was to bring worldwide attention to the plight of South Korean farmers who, like their counterparts in India, are increasingly crushed by the effects of the IMFs Structural Adjustment Programs and WTO negotiations in which industrialized countries are dangling the proverbial agricultural carrot to win concessions on other issues.

The data collected by the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, an Indian not-for-profit organization headed by Vandana Shiva — physicist, philosopher, feminist — is appalling:

  • Over 8,000 children have died of malnutrition in Maharashtra since the beginning of the globalization process;
  • Nearly 2,000 farmers have committed suicide in Rajasthan in the last three years;
  • More than 100 farmers from three villages — Rentachintala, Khambhampadu, and Macherla in East Andhra Pradesh — have sold kidneys to avoid starvation;
  • Between 1997 and 2000 in just one district — Anantpur — in Andhra Pradesh, 1826 people, mostly marginal farmers, committed suicide;
  • Wheat is being exported at 3.96 rupees a kilo even while the price of wheat purchased by those below the poverty line is 4.20 rupees and the economic cost to the Food Corporation of India is 8.30 rupees;
  • The Supreme Court’s Commissioners on Food found that almost 70 per cent of the food offtake by the Rajasthan government was for exports.

Over the last few years, 20,000 farmers have taken their own lives in desperation and 20,000 more have perished from hunger.

WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi and Canadian Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief both issued their customary regrets on the news of Mr. Lee’s death and moved swiftly on to the official business at hand. But the globalcriticos in Cancun are not willing to let them sidetrack Mr. Lee’s statement. Activists from the “Our World Is Not for Sale” coalition, along with South Korean militants, found their way inside the Centro de Convenciones yesterday to hold a silent vigil in front of the media centre.

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The Mexican television stations and newspapers seem to be opening up to the diversity of the opinions presented at the Ministerial. Most of the reporters were telling of all the globalofobicos (globophobes) who were gathering in Cancun for the WTO meeting.

The term is still heard, but seems to be increasingly replaced by the more accurate globalocriticos. Local coverage here seems balanced, compared to the often scant attention activists receive in Canada and the United States. Voz del Caribe, one of the two main Cancun newspapers has an entire section dedicated to La Cumbre (The Meeting) and another titled La Anticumbre, which reports on the Peoples’ Forum and the various protests and events staged by activists.

Is there a way for our Canadian media to take note of this?

Suggestions are welcome.

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Pierre Pettigrew is on the hot seat. As proud as he was to have been named Friend of the Chair (one of the five Committee Chairs), his nomination was coldly received by delegates from many least-developed and developing countries.

Another slap in the face: ministers and representatives of over 50 countries held a joint press conference yesterday afternoon, telling reporters and NGOs that the main condition for launching negotiations on the Singapore Issues (Investment, Competition Policy, Government Procurement and Trade Facilitation) was not met and that they wont take part in any negotiation on these new issues.

Minister Pettigrew tried to save face during his own press conference, stating that everything was going well and that the bilateral process would take care of this brick wall. In response to a journalist telling him there were concerns about his dual role as head of both the Canadian delegation (avowedly pro-Singapore Issues) and the trade committee, he replied somewhat defensively that this is the third time he has chaired a committee and that last time everyone at the table congratulated him for a job well done.

Some developing country trade delegates (who wished to remain anonymous for obvious reasons) beg to differ. It appears that Minister Pettigrew developed quite a reputation in Seattle, and more particularly in Doha, as a bullying negotiator whose style is to force issues down the throat of these countries.

Canadian NGO delegates aren’t particularly surprised, and issued their own warning to Pierre Pettigrew that he would be under tight scrutiny at this Ministerial.

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An NGO network is struggling to have its voice heard around the media centre, with no luck. It distributes media releases, invites delegates to chocolate parties and so on. Nobody is going.

But nobody is really pitying them either.

The group in question is the International Policy Network (IPN), which has launched a campaign called “Freedom to Trade.” According to its charter, “IPN works with individuals and organizations around the world who seek to free all people from the shackles of state control.”

Their campaign includes organizations such as the Free Market Foundation of Southern Africa, the Liberty Institute of New Delhi, and the Hayek Foundation of Moscow.

If the Mexican media have a word for trade hacks, we havent heard it yet.

Suggestions are welcome.