The people vs. WTO

Revelations in Seattle

A protester is dragged away by Seattle police at a demonstration against the World Trade Organization in 1999.

In the closing weeks of 1999, Seattle was thrust into the spotlight of the world's attention. Pouring in from many countries, demonstrators took to the streets to protest the World Trade Organization, or WTO, which was in Seattle to plan the next round of international trade agreements.

The protests brought together various groups, such as environmentalists and trade unions. The movement was against so-called globalization -- the growing influence and worldwide reach of multinational corporations. The protesters hoped to spark an international debate on the definition of global justice.

"To me, Seattle was the first major citizen mobilization against the new totalitarianism or what we call 'corporate rule,'" said Vandana Shiva, one of India's leading environmentalists. "Now the rule by national governments is being replaced by a global rule by a handful of corporations."

Australia's trade minister, Mark Vaile, said the protesters were missing the point. He thinks the World Trade Organization can actually help their causes.

"We're not clearly getting the message through to them," Vaile said. "On both the labor standards and the environment there are very clear and demonstrable benefits that can flow from improved trade and trade liberalization across the world to those sectors -- particularly in the developing world."

The World Trade Organization was created in 1995 -- replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade -- to give structure to the complex and often chaotic global economy.

Opponents of the WTO claim it puts too much control into the hands of government and big business. They believe international trade agreements do not often take into account the impact on the health and safety of workers, the damage to the environment and the welfare of poorer nations.

A delegate to the World Trade Organization's meeting in Seattle argues with protesters over the merits of globalization.

"There was something new," said David Solnit, a political activist at the Seattle demonstrations. "We looked around the streets and we saw that there were labor people, church people, basically every sector of society impacted by the WTO. We built an alliance in the streets there. We looked around and saw that basically what we're looking at is every sector of civil society standing up to corporate power."

On the other side, some conference delegates thought demonstrators were misguided about the WTO's intentions.

"It is a two way educational process," said Dr. M. Kipkorir Aly Azad Rana, Kenya's ambassador to the WTO. "Not only do the delegates need to be educated as the demonstrators are demanding. They want the demonstrators to be educated."

In planning their demonstrations, nearly 1,500 non-governmental organizations from 90 countries relied on the Internet -- using the global technology that some see as a threat.

"Information is power, as governments and companies have long realized, and that's why they have tried to control access to information," said Charles Secrett, London director of Friends of the Earth, the environmental group.

"What the Internet does is that it makes information available to everybody, quickly and relatively cheaply," Secrett said. "And that is an enormous tool for citizen activism. We saw that at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. So we think it's a fantastic and vital democratic tool."

Activists believe the events that took place in Seattle, a gateway to the Pacific, will be seen as the turning point that roused the poorer nations of the region to unite to protect their interests.