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Analysis: Who's afraid of the WTO?
Green groups take their concerns to Seattle |
They might not have much in common, but the groups taking their protest onto the streets of Seattle are united by a common dislike for a process and institution they believe is inherently unfair.
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All of them agree that the World Trade Organisation is a body that puts profit and the good of the world's mega-corporations before the interests of people and the planet.
In Seattle they gathered for the largest protest in the US since the Vietnam War.
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Who are the protesters? |
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Environmentalists |
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Animal rights activists |
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Farmers |
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Labour unions |
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Church groups |
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Consumer groups |
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Human rights bodies |
Also there in large numbers were representatives of American labour unions.
They object to President Clinton's proposals for lower trade barriers around the world - a move they say will flood the country with low cost imports and cost thousands of US jobs. The deal struck with Beijing two weeks ago paving the way for China's entry to the WTO is a particular cause of their anger.
All the groups see the WTO as in some way or another a frustration to their cause - an organisation that does not listen to the concerns to ordinary people and is designed only to concentrate even more power in the hands of rich countries and corporations.
Common cause
 For the first time students, people of faith, environmentalists, labour leaders and working families came together to send the message that the WTO does not protect workers or the environment  |
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Carl Pope Director, Sierra Club |
The Seattle protest had been planned for months, much of it orchestrated using that most global tool, of the modern era, the internet.
For these groups and their supporters around the world, the web has transformed popular protest, enabling activists across the world to work together in a way they were never able to before.
Violent hardcore
Protesters say the WTO is designed only to benefit rich countries and corporations |
But, as was demonstrated on Tuesday, that is no deterrent to a small hardcore intent on turning what had been billed as a peaceful "carnival against capitalism" into a violent showdown with the authorities.
For these protesters violence is a justified response to what they see as the damage caused by the rush for corporate profit, which they blame for death and environmental destruction.
"Capital is violence 24 hours a day" one activist told the BBC in a recent interview. " People are killed, environments are destroyed for growth, for competition, for profit - for us, that's violent."
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See also: |
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30 Nov 99 | Business |
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Technocrats versus Turtles |
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01 Dec 99 | Americas |
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Trade protesters spark emergency |
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01 Dec 99 | Business |
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WTO boss: Protesters harm the poor |
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30 Nov 99 | Americas |
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In pictures: The WTO protests |
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23 Nov 99 | Battle for Free Trade |
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Free trade flashpoints |
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28 Nov 99 | Battle for Free Trade |
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Global hopes, global fears |
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Internet links: |
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World Trade Organisation |
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites |
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Links to other Battle for Free Trade stories are at the foot of the page.
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