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Cordi peasants join WTO protest

Alyansa dagiti Pesante ti Taeng Cordillera (Apit Tako)

December 23, 2005

A six-man team from the Cordillera headed by the militant Cordillera Peoples Alliance were part of the Philippine delegation to the People’s Action Week launched in Hongkong on the occasion of the 6th Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization.

Mr. Julian Gayomba the chairperson of APIT TAKO in an interview before they left for Hongkong said that this occasion is very important for peasants to register their strong opposition to any further agreement on the issue on agriculture as this will surely favor the interest of developed countries and would result to massive poverty to the peasantry all over the world.

Throughout the week, the streets leading to the convention center were filled with protest with only one voice and that is JUNK WTO !. Simultaneous with the other activities, peasants all over the world have successfully launched the First International Rural Peoples’ Tribunal wherein the rural peoples of the world as complainant charge the World Trade Organization,International Monetary Fund, World Bank,George W. Bush, European Union and Japan for various crimes against humanity such as massive deaths, destruction of natural resources, destroying agriculture of developing countries, trampling on human, workers’ and women’s rights and undermining social justice,exacerbating landlessness, causing dislocation, hunger, poverty and landlessness, infringement upon people’s national sovereignty, exacerbating inequality, undermining world peace, jeopardizing health, endangering food security and undermining food sovereignty, gross violation of human rights and undermining social justice and complete disregard of plaintiffs’ right to life, liberty, livelihood and freedom from want. After thorough deliberations, the Presdium of Judges headed by Irene Fernandez,a an alternative nobel prize awardee have found the defendants guilty of the above mentioned crime and is thus ordered to desist from interfering in the affairs of other countries, and committing acts of aggression, and infringement of sovereignty against the rural peoples of the world and other freedom loving peoples worldwide.

The result of the tribunal showed only one thing and that is the growing discontentment of member countries especially the third world countries of which they are the victims of so called agreements that favors the interest of rich countries.It was very clear that the commitment of rich countries to genuine development of poor countries are only token.

They are pushing other countries to cut off their subsidies and tariffs on agriculture but on the other hand they themselves are bent on protecting their own. Its basically asking other countries to do something which they themselves are not doing.

Even the developed countries such as the United States and the European Union are far apart when it comes to negotiations on agriculture.This is because each one is closing its position to scrapping tariffs and quotas to imports.

The massive protest outside the formal 6th Ministerial Meeting together with the efforts of our progressive and militant party list representatives has a great impact in the collapse of any further agreement in agricultutre . So as the Cordillera delegation left Hongkong,they were proud enough that they did not fail the clamour of the basic sector of which they have represented. International solidarity was also strengthened because they strongly believe that “ people united will never be defeated”.They went, they joined the peoples of the world to JUNK World Trade Organization. #

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