--- F R E N D Z of martian --- Hehe -- Martin Cosgrave Appdev Ltd - http://appdev.co.uk 0117 902 3143 ----- Original Message ----- From: nettime's_roving_reporter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Nettime <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, April 07, 2000 11:53 PM Subject: <nettime> An activist amongst the robber barons > <http://www.prorev.com/altnews4.htm> > > AN ACTIVIST AMONGST THE ROBBER BARONS > > [Bruce Silverglade of the Center for Science in the Public > Interest managed to get himself invited to a day-long high-level > seminar on "After Seattle: Restoring Momentum to the WTO." > Speakers included Clayton Yeutter (former Secretary of > Agriculture), Robert Litan (former Associate Director of the > White House Office of Management and Budget), Lawrence > Eagleburger (former Secretary of State), and Luiz Felipe Lamreia, > the foreign Minster of Brazil. His fly-on-the-wall report is > worth quoting at some length]: > > I was disappointed that only one representative like myself from > a non-profit organization concerned about the impact of the WTO > on food safety regulation was invited. But I was pleased that the > door had been opened and I looked forward to [it]. > > . . . As it turned out, I got a lot more than I bargained for. > The seminar ~ turned out to be a strategy session on how to > defeat those opposed to the current WTO system. Apparently, no > one knew who I was (perhaps my graying temples and dark suit > helped me blend in with the overwhelming older male group of > attendees) and I did not speak up until the end of the meeting. > > The meeting was kicked off by a gentleman named Lord Patterson > who was Margaret Thatcher's Secretary of State for Trade and > Industry. He began by stating that our number one job is to > restore confidence in the WTO before embarking on any new rounds > of trade negotiations. So far, so good, I thought. > > But he then proclaimed that non-profit groups have no right to > criticize the WTO as undemocratic because the groups themselves > do not represent the general public. (I wondered which groups he > was talking about because organizations that are gravely > concerned about the impact of the WTO on environmental and > consumer protection, like the Sierra Club and Public Citizen, > have hundreds of thousands of members). He then stated that we > must never have another WTO meeting on US soil because it was too > easy for advocacy groups to organize here and security could not > be assured . . . He added that President Clinton's speech during > the WTO meeting in Seattle, in which the president acknowledged > the protesters' concerns, was "disgraceful" and stated that it > was also disgraceful that delegates to the WTO meeting in Seattle > had to survive on sandwiches and couldn't get a decent meal > during three days of social protest. The Lord finished his speech > by recalling better times having tea with Maggie, and stating > that the staff of the WTO Secretariat ~ should not be balanced > with people from developing countries just because of the color > of their skin. After a few words with the chairman of the > meeting, Lord Patterson added "Oh, I hope I have not offended > anyone." > > . . . The largely American audience of trade officials and policy > wonks took the Lord's pronouncements seriously. The first comment > by an American, picked up on the criticisms and asked 'How can we > de-legitimize the NGOs?' The questioner claimed that these groups > are usually supported by just a few charitable foundations and if > the foundations could be convinced to cut off funding, the groups > would be forced to cease operations. Mr. Litan, the former White > House budget official, had another approach. He [asked] can't we > give the NGOs other sandboxes to play in and have them take their > concerns to groups like the International Labor Organization (a > toothless United Nations sponsored-group). The representative > from the US Trade Representative's office said nothing. > > . . . Under the banner of rebuilding public confidence in the > WTO, [former Agriculture Secretary] Yeutter concurred with his > British colleague's suggestion that the next WTO meeting be held > in some place other than the US where security can be assured. He > further suggested that the WTO give the public little advance > notice of where the meeting would be held to keep the protesters > off balance. He said that the protesters' demands for greater > transparency in WTO proceedings was a misnomer because the > protesters didn't really want to participate in WTO proceedings > -- all they wanted was to get TV coverage and raise money for > their organizations. > > . . . The day ended with the usual Washington reception . . . > During desert, the foreign minister of Brazil lamented that if > the next WTO meeting had to be held in an out of the way place, > he preferred that it be held on a cruise ship instead of in the > middle of the desert. He then gave an impassioned speech in which > he opposed writing core labor standards into the WTO agreement > and defended child labor by describing how in one region of > Brazil, more than 5,000 children "help their families earn a > little extra money" by hauling bags of coal from a dump yard to a > steel mill. He stressed, however, that the children do not work > directly in the steel mill. He was greeted by a hearty round of > applause. > > # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission > # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, > # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets > # more info: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and "info nettime-l" in the msg body > # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Sent to you via the frendz list at marsbard.com The archive is at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
