At Franklin Park (14th and I Streets), protesters gathered to hear alternative globalization speakers. Maude Barlow brought greetings from the global justice movement in Canada. Barlow, active with the Council of Canadians, spoke of the effects of privatization on tens of thousands of familes in South Africa. Analytically, Barlow pointed out that while the World Bank makes the demands on governments to privatize public services in exchange for loans, the World Trade Organization codifies the privatization through a system of trade rules. But things changed when the WTO met in Cancun, Mexico in 2003. "People from the Global South stood up to the WTO," said Barlow. At these meetings, the Kenyan delegation walked out when they realized that the WTO was not going to address issues of agricultural policy. Kenya was followed by the rest of the African delegation, Latin America, and Asia. Officials of the WTO claimed that this "was a bad day for the world." However, Barlow recounted, the Global South said "This is a bad day for you [WTO, IMF, WB, US, Europe, Japan], but not a bad day for the world." Barlow ended by asking people to remember the Korean farmer Lee who gave his life in protest for the Global South in Cancun.

Council of Canadians:
www.canadians.org/

Article by Barlow in The Nation:
www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml