- News>
- World
WTO protesters bare resentments and bodies at beach in Cancun
Cancun, Sept 08: Anti-globalization protesters stripped their clothes off and spelled out the words ``no WTO`` with their naked bodies today, the first of several actions against the world trade organization meeting in this Caribbean resort.
Cancun, Sept 08: Anti-globalization protesters stripped their clothes off and spelled out the words ``no WTO'' with their naked bodies today, the first of several actions against the world trade organization meeting in this Caribbean resort.
A mix of radical activists, farmers and labor rights promoters have planned a week of protests to show the harmful effects of free trade and growing corporate domination.
Demonstrators say Cancun, whose miles (kilometers) of white-sand beaches are mostly hidden behind high-rise hotels, is a good example of increasing private control.
"This is a rejection of the WTO and the symbolic reclaiming of our beaches, using the only weapons we have left, our bodies,'' said a member of the direct action network, the group that organized the protest. He identified himself only as Abraham, and refused to give his last name because he feared reprisals.
A municipal policeman scanned the protest through binoculars, but didn't try to stop it. Indecent exposure is banned on Cancun's beaches.
The protest took place at playa Langosta, a public beach that breaks the seemingly endless wall of hotels lining the Cancun peninsula.
The 29 activists lay head-to-toe in the fine sand to spell out "No WTO,'' first in Spanish and then in English. News photographers swarmed and jockeyed to get the best shot.
"I think it is kind of exciting,'' said one of the participants, Jeff Duritz of Boston, Massachusetts, who has attended protests against the WTO and the International Monetary Fund in the past.
Bureau Report
Demonstrators say Cancun, whose miles (kilometers) of white-sand beaches are mostly hidden behind high-rise hotels, is a good example of increasing private control.
"This is a rejection of the WTO and the symbolic reclaiming of our beaches, using the only weapons we have left, our bodies,'' said a member of the direct action network, the group that organized the protest. He identified himself only as Abraham, and refused to give his last name because he feared reprisals.
A municipal policeman scanned the protest through binoculars, but didn't try to stop it. Indecent exposure is banned on Cancun's beaches.
The protest took place at playa Langosta, a public beach that breaks the seemingly endless wall of hotels lining the Cancun peninsula.
The 29 activists lay head-to-toe in the fine sand to spell out "No WTO,'' first in Spanish and then in English. News photographers swarmed and jockeyed to get the best shot.
"I think it is kind of exciting,'' said one of the participants, Jeff Duritz of Boston, Massachusetts, who has attended protests against the WTO and the International Monetary Fund in the past.
Bureau Report