All major press conferences organized on 9th September a day before the Cancun Ministerial Conference (September 10-14, 2003) clearly show that Agriculture is going to make or break the Cancun Ministerial Conference of the WTO.
Strong domestic support and export subsidies in developed nations have placed tremendous curbs on the export of farm goods by developing nations which had been blocking progress on other fronts in the WTO.
'They promised tourist development that would help indigenous people, help the local people and help the poor people. And we noticed at the beginning of the process that that was lies, that wasn't the way it was going to be.' -Aguillon
TWN Report from Cancun, 9 Sept 2003 (By Martin Khor)
'Ours is a good cause, we have the support of our population and a large proportion of world opinion, this is a chance for the WTO to show it cares for the poor.' - AMORIN
Guy de Jonquieres, Frances Williams and John Authers in Cancun
Breaking the two-year deadlock over farm trade reform is widely seen as the linchpin of the five-day meeting and an acid test of rich countries' pledges to make the Doha talks a 'development' round.
John Authers in Cancun and Sara Silver in Mexico City
Mexican peasant leaders are planning a mass demonstration against free trade on Wednesday to mark the opening of the World Trade Organisation's ministerial meeting in the Caribbean resort of Cancun.
