For one week this September, Cancún hosted the 5th Ministerial of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Spearheaded by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a variety of non-governmental organizations from North American and Mexico organized a Fair Trade Symposium and Fair Trade products expo to coincide with the summit. The goal of the Fair Trade presence in Cancún was to highlight Fair Trade as an alternative to global trade policies that wreak havoc on farmers and producers from less developed countries.

When I arrived in Cancún, I was shocked by the massive, glitzy hotels that push skyward from what used to be swampland. While I knew that I would focus on the Fair Trade symposium, I had hoped to get a closer look at the inner workings of the WTO and also participate in the peaceful (of course – I work for Peace Coffee!) demonstrations that brought an amazing array of voices from around the globe. It quickly became clear that jumping between these worlds -- the street demonstrations, the WTO conference center and the Fair Trade Symposium -- would be difficult due to geography and extremely tight security.

I picked my battle and for the first three days I focused on the Fair Trade venues. The first highlight was speaking on a panel discussion of 100% Fair Trade coffee roasters, including members of Dean’s Beans, Equal Exchange and a representative of Maya Vinic Cooperative in Chiapas, Mexico. Each of us described how we are working to "raise the bar" in Fair Trade coffee; detailing our efforts to provide critical pre-harvest financing (which does not happen on the majority of Fair Trade contracts). We urged that Transfair USA implement a certification system that encourages increased participation by non-100% roasters and highlighted our efforts in working with farmers to ensure our coffees are of the highest quality. Augustin from Maya Vinic spoke about the positive impact Fair Trade has had in his community and urged roasters everywhere to make a larger commitment to Fair Trade.

I had met Augustin of Maya Vinic last February and in addition to reconnecting with him, Cancún served as a great opportunity to meet with other farmers we work with. I spent several hours with Rene of Cosurca in Colombia. It was an amazing opportunity to listen to the "on the ground" challenges that his organization faces. Not only is Cosurca fighting for a just income for their coffee, they are in the middle of a drug war where their lives are in jeopardy and the state coffee exporting organization, Expocafe, is trying to limit their ability sell directly to buyers like Peace Coffee. We purchased a small quantity of Cosurca coffee earlier this year but were not able to get as much as we needed due to Expocafe; hence we have not offered it on the website yet. We recently sent letters supporting Cosurca’s efforts to participate directly in the Fair Trade market. My time with Rene furthered our connection with Cosurca and I am anxious to do what we can to help them gain greater market access.

I also had the great fortune to meet Zulema of a women owned cooperative in Nicaragua that makes Peace Coffee’s t-shirts. Their cooperative got started through amazing support from Maggie’s Organics. Maggie’s had been committed to making their t-shirts in domestic textile operations but Maggie’s suppliers kept moving oversees. Finally, when they ran out of domestic options, they decided that they would only work with a sweat-free manufacturer oversees. Maggie’s and the Nicaraguan women of Ciudad Sandino connected through a local Jubilee House. Hearing Zulema describe the strength of the women who organized themselves to construct the building where they work and create opportunity and hope where none had existed was truly moving. If you buy cotton, please consider Maggie’s Organics. You’re clothes can’t get any cleaner! www.organicclothes.com

After three days in the Fair Trade conference center and products expo, I made my way to downtown Cancún. It was Saturday and while the largest demonstration had taken place on Wednesday, there were several thousand people looking to make their voices heard at "ground zero," where the police had barricaded access to the hotel zone, approximately five kilometers from the conference center. We had arrived via the long way, a one-hour van ride all the way around the city. We started walking down the closed off streets towards the massive double fences with barbed wire at ground zero. On a grass island just off the street we came across a memorial for Lee-Kyung-hae, a Korean farm leader who, during Wednesday’s events, climbed atop the fence and stabbed himself. There were small tea candles all around a picture of Mr. Kyung-hae and banners that read, "bless our brother." The message that Lee-Kyung-hae desperately wanted to get across was plastered on his shirt when he committed suicide; "the WTO kills farmers."

We proceeded towards ground zero and met up with the larger mass of demonstrators. It was a crazy array of international activists, media and onlookers. Music and slogans blared from portable speakers mounted to poles held high in the air, encouraging people over profits. I stood probably thirty yards from the barricade in the back of the crowd. Through the fencing we could see police in riot gear five or six deep and everyone seemed to be waiting for something to happen. All of a sudden the people in the front pulled down the first fence and the crowd cheered. Several minutes later the second fence came down. These efforts seemed to be directed towards making a statement and with that task completed the demonstrators peacefully stood their ground and gave a series of speeches.

On Sunday, I left Cancún with little "insider" knowledge of what had actually taken place in the WTO negotiations. The papers reported that the "group of 22" countries, led by Brazil and India, derailed the negotiations by holding together on a unified platform. The talks were considered a failure and trade diplomats pulled the plug hours before the talks were scheduled to end. The talks had hinged on how deeply Europe and the United States would be willing to slash their huge $300 billion per year farm-subsidy programs. These subsidies depress crop prices and make it extremely difficult for farmers in developing countries to compete. Behind the subsidies issue was an equally divisive series of negotiations on international investment rules and antitrust laws know as the Singapore issues. The European Union made the Singapore issues a precondition for making cuts in its farm subsidies. When India and others balked outright, saying they would not negotiate these issues under any condition, the negotiations ended.

I consider the failed talks a victory for all of us dedicated to Fair Trade. As the Indian Foreign Minister stated; "The pretense of the development objective has finally been rejected and discarded." In other words, the idea that the WTO’s agenda helps farmers in developing countries is NOT true and for the first time, developing countries banded together to fight rich-country farm subsidies. But the fight is far from over. We’ll have to see how the WTO tries to restart future negotiations. Meanwhile, the United States is already actively pursing regional (FTAA) and two-country deals. At Peace Coffee, we obviously focus on making trade fair for coffee farmers at the grassroots level, far from closed trade negotiations. We love connecting farmers to coffee lovers! At the same time, Cancún is a powerful reminder that we all need to be vigilant for producers everywhere, so that their voices are heard and there is never another Lee-Kyung-hae.

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