WTO Protestors Bare Resentments - And Bodies - In Cancun

AP via Dow Jones | 9/8/03 | AP Staff

[BunnySlippers]

WTO Protestors Bare Resentments - And Bodies - In Cancun

CANCUN, Mexico (AP)--Anti-globalization protesters stripped their clothes off and spelled out the words "No WTO" with their naked bodies Monday, the first of several actions against the World Trade Organization meeting in this Caribbean resort.

A mix of radical activists, farmers and labor rights promoters have planned a week of protests to show the harmful effects of free trade and growing corporate domination. Demonstrators say Cancun, whose miles of white-sand beaches are mostly hidden behind high-rise hotels, is a good example of increasing private control.

"This is a rejection of the WTO...and the symbolic reclaiming of our beaches, using the only weapons we have left, our bodies," said a member of the Direct Action Network, the group that organized the protest. He identified himself only as Abraham, and refused to give his last name because he feared reprisals.

A municipal policeman scanned the protest through binoculars, but didn't try to stop it. Indecent exposure is banned on Cancun's beaches.

The protest took place at Playa Langosta, a public beach that breaks the seemingly endless wall of hotels lining the Cancun peninsula.

The 29 activists lay head-to-toe in the fine sand to spell out "No WTO," first in Spanish and then in English. News photographers swarmed and jockeyed to get the best shot.

"I think it is kind of exciting," said one of the participants, Jeff Duritz of Boston, who has attended protests against the WTO and the International Monetary Fund in the past. "This is a mix of Mexican nationals, North Americans and Europeans, all coming together in the same protests."

Many of the laughing, sand-covered protesters demanded that Mexican President Vicente Fox come and roll on the beach naked.

"I'm staying here until Fox comes to talk with us," one man shouted.

After they scrubbed off the sand in Cancun's crystalline waters, the protesters also complained about the nickname the Mexican government has given them: "globafobicos," literally, "globalization phobics."

"I'm not phobic about anything," Duritz said. "We like meeting other cultures, the Internet, international cinema. But what we object to is a corporate-driven globalization."

Protesters say 2,000 Mexican farmers and Zapatista rebel sympathizers from the southern state of Chiapas are expected to arrive over the next day in a bus caravan.

[Dead Corpse]

Unless Salma Hyek was there, I don't even wanna joke about what was seen.

[BunnySlippers]

It sounds like Spring Break .. or "Girls Gone Wild" in Cancun.

[Dead Corpse]

More like "Unshaved Women Behaving Badly".

[anniegetyourgun]

globafobicos

That just rolls off the tongue, eh? Sounds like the Mexicans have got their number.

[ctlpdad]

is this them?

[Blueflag]

The original name for the Cancun area was a local 'indian' word meaning "land of mosquitos" (seriously). Private development made the area useful.

Get off the beach at night, or on the beach with an offshore breeze, and you'll KNOW why the land was so named.

[Eastbound]

' . . . with a quack-quack here and a quack-quack there. Here quack there quack everywhere quack-quack . . .'

[SquirrelKing]

WTO Protest, Seattle - 1999

For Cancun, just add Coppertone.

Lots of coppertone.

[Chi-townChief]

"A mix of radical activists, farmers and labor rights promoters have planned a week of protests to show the harmful effects of free trade and growing corporate domination. "

At the end of the week, they also may show the harmful effects of direct sun exposure.

[El Conservador]

I think the WTO intentionally set up its conference in Cancún, just to distract the antiglobalwhackos from protesting and conduct their business in peace; besides, everything is so expensive at Cancún, that those anarchists, which are known for their lack of money, will go broke trying to feed themselves.

[E Rocc]

In a related story, Islamic delegates refused to venture outside their hotels and meeting rooms due to a pervasive bacon-like smell.

-Eric

[shortstop]

**For Cancun, just add Coppertone.** Looks like those Cancun mosquitos already bit these two. Twice each.

[retrokitten]

This just doesn't sound like a group that would look nice naked.

[karen999]

Ever notice these bozos never strip down naked at really inclement times of the year? In other words, if the WTO was
holding a meeting in Stockholm in middle of January during a
blizzard, these bunnies would never be "protesting" by
stripping. there are just some things we are NOT meant to
see...and uglier than mortal sin naked leftists are things
we are not meant to see....

[retrokitten]

Oh that's for sure. Generally these professional protesters are not an attractive bunch. I can't even imagine the amount of hair they left behind.

[sandmanbr]

I've seen better looking breasts on my coon dog.

[cyborg]

completely off topic BUT is there some reason why people do not make coon skin caps anymore?

[Tailgunner Joe]