Chaos Surrounding WTO Reflects Public Mistrust, Media Reports
12/3/99
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Title: Chaos at WTO talks reflects public mistrust-media
Source: Reuters
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: December 3, 1999
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chaos in Seattle's streets that has
overshadowed the World Trade Organization meeting in that city
reflects a deep public mistrust and misunderstanding of what the
faceless global trade body is all about, newspapers said Thursday.
While condemning the muddled message of an eclectic collection of
activists who blame the WTO's free-trade agenda for ills ranging from
world poverty to destruction of the rain forests, The Los Angeles
Times said the WTO's lack of transparency was largely to blame for
the fact that its objectives were widely misunderstood.
``The WTO's meteoric rise from obscurity to villainy is partly its
own fault,'' the newspaper said in an editorial. ``It operates
largely behind closed doors in rooms filled largely with corporate
executives, trade bureaucrats and politicians. No wonder the Geneva-
based organization is perceived in the United States and elsewhere as
an agent of big business.''
Other media said deep divisions within the WTO and its inability to
set the shape of a new trade round only added to the confusion and
muddied the message that free trade was supposed to benefit rich and
poor countries alike.
``A new round will not be started without agreement between the EU
(European Union) and the U.S. The difficulty is that both want
liberalization of other countries' barriers, without liberalizing
much themselves,'' London's Financial Times said in its editorial
comment. ``The EU and the U.S. are still at loggerheads, and are
still intent on bullying developing countries, without offering much
in return.''
Many newspapers strongly supported freer global trade but criticized
the secrecy of WTO operations and said the group should heed the
message of protesters and pay more attention to humanitarian, labor
and environmental issues.
The New York Times wrote that ``the WTO's 135 members will make a
huge mistake if they fail to grasp the core belief fueling these
unruly protests -- that the WTO is far too insular, that it has
displayed too little sensitivity for issues like workers' rights and
the environment, and that its secretive procedures undermine public
trust.
``It is possible to agree with the WTO's goal of free trade, as this
page does, and also to agree with President Clinton that the
protesters' causes merit sympathy,'' the paper added.
While the WTO took criticism from editorial writers, newspapers were
united in condemning the violence that transformed Seattle's stylish
downtown streets into a scene reminiscent of the 1960s -- a
battleground of chanting demonstrators, shattered storefronts and
patrolling police and National Guardsmen.
``In the name of protecting the environment, workers' rights and
health issues, these irresponsible activists smashed store windows,
destroyed property and terrorized a city. Such behavior is
inexcusable,'' said the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. ``It's also
ineffective. Anti-trade protesters are picking on the wrong target.''