Activists unwelcome at Argentina-hosted WTO meeting
December 10, 2017
Argentina has blocked entry to anti-globalization activists ahead of its hosting of a key World Trade Organization meeting. The WTO agenda includes ways to stem over-fishing and safeguards for online trading.
Buenos Aires international Ezeiza airportImage: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Woitas
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Argentina under its market-reform President Mauricio Macri turned back two European anti-globalization activists as they arrived at the airport to observe a large World Trade Organization ministerial meeting beginning Sunday in Buenos Aires.
Last month, Argentina rescinded the credentials of some 60 activists, claiming their presence would be "more disruptive than constructive" among 4,000 government delegates from the WTO's 164 nations.
News of the deportations emerged internationally Saturday, prompting Amnesty International Argentina to tell Britain's Guardian newspaper that it was puzzled by the Argentinan Foreign Ministry's claim that some would-be attendees intended to generate "chaos."
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Ecuador-based Sally Burch, a self-declared activist and British journalist who directs the Latin American Information Agency, told a Buenos Aires radio station that she was refused entry as she arrived at the capital's international airport.
"It's not very democratic of Argentina's government," she remarked.
Petter Titland, head of the Norwegian NGO Attac Norge, said Argentine authorities had not explained why they had denied him entry, before reportedly sending him on to Brazil.
"Ensuring the security of the conference is, of course, essential, but I fail to see how the NGO representatives based in Europe who have seen their accreditation revoked would pose any security threat," Titland wrote on Twitter.
For its part, WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said the Geneva-based organization did not agree with Argentinian officials' decision.
"We didn't have the same perspective, but we're now moving on," he told journalists.
Argentina G20 host
The WTO's biannual decision-making assembly runs until Wednesday, with WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo reportedly low-key on prospects of any major breakthroughs.
Azevedo said he is not expecting any breakthroughsImage: picture-alliance/dpa/J.-C. Bott
It is one in a series of global events to be hosted into next year by Argentina as chair of major economies within the G20 group.
The WTO's agenda in Buenos Aires will include calls to end subsidization of ocean-going fishing fleets, long practiced by industrial blocs such as the EU and blamed by poor countries for depleting coastal fisheries.
More than a third of world fisheries – outside fish farms – are unregulated and undocumented, according to the Global Ocean Commission at Britain's Oxford University.
"If we decide to curb and finally ban harmful fishery subsidies in Buenos Aires, consumers will be able to enjoy fish with a clear conscience in the long run,” said Karl Brauner, the deputy chief of the WTO.
Since 2014, Indonesia has sunk 'poachers' boatsImage: Getty Images/Jefta Images/Barcroft India
Safeguards for online trading
The WTO's will also focus on a proposed global standard to better safeguard consumers and vendors when they buy and sell goods and services online.
Oliver Wieck, who heads the German branch of the International Chamber of Commerce, said it would be "easier for consumers” and help remove problems for vendors stemming from a lack of rules.
A trade deal sought by the EU and four Mercosur nations – Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay - might also make progress in Buenos Aires, said Susana Malcorra, Argentina's former foreign minister who will preside over the WTO meeting.
Last Tuesday, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said those talks – under way for 18 years – could continue into next year.
Stumbling blocks include beef and ethanol. Greenpeace recently accused the European Commission of suggesting increasing South American meat imports in exchange for lower Mercosur tariffs on European cars and car parts.
On Thursday, the European Commission said all products delivered to Europe must continue to comply with EU food standards.
German Chacellor Angela Merkel visited Macri in JuneImage: Getty Images/AFP/E. Abramovich
WTO delegates in Buenos Aires are also likely to focus on Washington's blocking of appointments of judges to the WTO's dispute settlement system, which has played key roles in standoffs, for example, between Boeing and Airbus.
"The appellate body will be down to four members from its regular seven-member contingent from the middle of next month, said a Geneva trade official.
EU filling gap
The WTO's Brauner said the "leadership deficit" created by the Trump administration had created an opportunity for the European Union.
A brief history of the anti-globalization movement
Whenever heads of state and global financial institutions come together, protest is not far away. Critics of globalization have been taking action for 20 years - also in the name of nature. DW looks back.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Sabrowsky
'Battle of Seattle'
The "Battle of Seattle" in 1999 marked the unofficial start of the anti-globalization movement. Organizing under the radar, this new protest movement burst onto the scene with tens of thousands taking to the streets - and shutting the city down. Protesters criticized the World Trade Organization (WTO) as promoting a "race to the bottom" in terms of environmental, human rights and labor standards.
Image: Getty Images/K.Stallknecht
Teamsters and turtles - together at last
The Seattle actions brought together a broad coalition, with rank-and-file labor unionists marching arm-in-arm with environmentalists. Previously at odds over jobs, the two factions now faced a common enemy: corporate dominance and the unchecked quest for corporate profit. International financial institutions promoting free trade became the symbols - and targets - of this broad new movement.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. G. Mabanglo
London: carnival against capital
"Think globally, act locally" is one of the slogans of the anti-globalization movement. Demonstrators organized protests as street parties in response to a crackdown from authorities and made calls to decentralize and globalize. As the G8 met in Cologne in June 1999, "J18" protests also took place in London and Eugene, Oregon. The emphasis on having fun drew many young people into the movement.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Genoa: Escalation and turning point
In 2001, thousands protested the G8 under the slogan "another world is possible." This alternative vision was against environmental destruction and the growing gap between rich and poor. Indeed, a criticism of the anti-globalization movement was that it was against so much - but what was it for? Protests in Genoa were marked by clashes between security forces and increasingly militant protesters.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Julien
Things get real
As many as 20,000 policemen sought to keep the demonstrations under control - in vain. The legacy of Genoa included innumerable injuries, and even one fatality: Police shot dead the Italian Carlo Giuliani in a street battle. For years afterward, such summits were held in increasingly remote - and defendable - locations. For the protesters, this symbolized how they served - above all - the elite.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Monteforte
WTO in Doha
In 2001, the WTO met in Doha - for protesters, hard to reach - and with Qatar not exactly known to vaunt free speech. Was the era of mass anti-globalization demonstrations over? Doha's slick and elite image added fuel to the accusation that such institutions were insulating themselves against popular movements.
Image: Getty Images/ANOC/M. Runnacles
Toronto: More mass arrests
The G20 summit in Toronto in 2010 went down in history - as the scene of Canada's largest mass arrest. Police cracked down violently on demonstrators, arresting more than a thousand people - who were mostly later release without charge. The mass false arrests here had followed similar actions: in Washington at IMF/ World Bank protests in 2002, and at the FTAA protest in Miami in 2003.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Ilnitsky
'Secret' environment conference
In 2015, the G7 meeting at Schloss Elmau in Bavaria - likewise a remote and defendable location - took up a number of environmental topics, such as threats to the world's oceans. G7 countries vowed to more effectively and intensively work on fighting waste in the seas. Environmental topics appeared to have broken through to agendas that previously had been dominated by economic ones.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/C. Stache
Tempering the powder keg
For the G20 to set its 2017 meeting in the major metropolis of Hamburg could be seen as a reconciliation. Currently in the rotating presidency of the G20, Germany has been praised by civil society groups for its attempts to engage, such as here at the "Civil20" meeting in June. Climate change is at the top of Germany's G20 agenda - reflecting increasing concern over the issue worldwide.
Image: Reuters/F. Bimmer
Camping for the movement
In Hamburg, urban camping should reduce the environmental footprint of protesters - although a conflict over whether to allow such camping within the city has been a bone of contention. Again, 20,000 police will attempt to keep order during the summit. An atmosphere similar to that of a summer music festival is tempered with serious undertones as protests get underway.
Image: picture-alliance/Zumapress/J. Widener
Walking the talk
As the most polluting fossil fuel, coal is a clear target. Greenpeace activists pulled alongside the Chinese coal freighter "Golden Opportunity" in Hamburg's port to point out Germany's hypocritical position on the topic. Similar actions are surely to come - learning from the anti-globalization movement, the climate justice movement has built a broad coalition. It's not just eco-freaks anymore!
