[lbo-talk] Fwd: [FAIRTRADE] WTO News 4/5: The WTO's Cancer on Democracy

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Thu Dec 15 10:41:54 PST 2005


[an example of what I was just talking about]

Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:43:29 -0600 (CST) From: Global Trade Watch <publiccitizen at democracyinaction.org>

WTO Update - Day 4 of 5

The WTO's Cancer on Democracy

Dear Fair Trade Activist,

Over the last three days, we've sent you emails about problems with the <http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?keyd236370&url_num=2&url=http://www.citizen.org/trade/wto/>World Trade Organization (WTO) model, how it <http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?keyd236370&url_num=3&url=http://www.citizen.org/hot_issues/issue.cfm?ID51>exacerbates poverty, pushes the race to the bottom in workers' wages, and promotes a system of one-size-fits-all rules that are eating away at our democracy worldwide. We've asked you to <http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?keyd236370&url_num=4&url=http://action.citizen.org/pickMedia.jsp?letter_KEY27&t=WTO.dwt>write letters to the editor about all these issues - if you haven't done so yet, please do!

Today, we'd like to tell you a little about the un-democratic way that the WTO operates on a day-to-day basis. If you were a trade minister for a developing country, you'd have a lot of free time on your hands, because the real discussions at the WTO are in <http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?keyd236370&url_num=5&url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,16849-1927707,00.html>invitation-only sessions called "green rooms." In these sessions, the big boys invite in a few friendly developing countries and then tell everyone else to take it or leave what comes out.

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