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Naked protesters hit beach against Cancun talks
Cancun, Sept 09: Anti-globalisation activists stripped naked on the beach in Mexico`s Caribbean resort of Cancun on Monday to protest a meeting aimed at reviving troubled negotiations for a global free-trade deal.
Cancun, Sept 09: Anti-globalisation activists stripped naked on the beach in Mexico's Caribbean resort of Cancun on Monday to protest a meeting aimed at reviving troubled negotiations for a global free-trade deal.
About two dozen men and women bared their all and lay down on the beach, their bodies spelling out "No WTO" on the white sand as World Trade Organisation ministers held talks nearby.
"We wanted to pull together as a multinational group and show our bums and beliefs to the WTO," said Katie Hughes, a 27-year-old student from Pennsylvania, who joined the naked protest. There were Mexicans, Americans and Europeans among the group who spelled out their protest first in Spanish, then ran laughing into the warm, turquoise waters to rinse off before coming out and doing it again in English.
"It was an opening statement to reassert the point, to make sure the WTO does not proceed unchecked," Dave Meddell, an American environmental campaigner, said.
Mexican police watched the naked protest but did nothing to stop it even though the protesters were breaking the law.
Thousands of US environmentalists, European backpackers and militant Mexican peasants are descending on Cancun to protest this week's trade talks and institutions like the International Monetary Fund, which they accuse of leading a globalisation drive that excludes and hurts the poor.
"We as the poor people of the world are gaining nothing from the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank. They are working for the interests of the big companies and individuals," said Mangaliso Kubheka, an activist with the Landless People's Movement in South Africa. Bureau Report
"We wanted to pull together as a multinational group and show our bums and beliefs to the WTO," said Katie Hughes, a 27-year-old student from Pennsylvania, who joined the naked protest. There were Mexicans, Americans and Europeans among the group who spelled out their protest first in Spanish, then ran laughing into the warm, turquoise waters to rinse off before coming out and doing it again in English.
"It was an opening statement to reassert the point, to make sure the WTO does not proceed unchecked," Dave Meddell, an American environmental campaigner, said.
Mexican police watched the naked protest but did nothing to stop it even though the protesters were breaking the law.
Thousands of US environmentalists, European backpackers and militant Mexican peasants are descending on Cancun to protest this week's trade talks and institutions like the International Monetary Fund, which they accuse of leading a globalisation drive that excludes and hurts the poor.
"We as the poor people of the world are gaining nothing from the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank. They are working for the interests of the big companies and individuals," said Mangaliso Kubheka, an activist with the Landless People's Movement in South Africa. Bureau Report