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World
Trade Keep Away |
There
is Hope
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©1999
Gary Huck
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Challenging powerful global entities like the WTO may seem
like a hopeless task. But sometimes it’s not.
Representatives of the world’s richest countries spent
years secretly negotiating a Multilateral Agreement on
Investment, which would have given corporations the right to
sue government entities that passed laws restricting their
investments (including, for instance, laws requiring companies
to hire local workers or to use recycled materials in
manufacturing). But then someone leaked the MAI draft document
and it was posted on the internet. Citizen, labor,
environmental, and other groups spread the word about MAI, and
the tide began to turn. Dozens of cities (including Seattle,
site of the upcoming WTO summit, and Geneva, Switzerland, the
WTO’s home city) passed "MAI-free zone"
resolutions. Within months, the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development, under whose aegis the MAI had
been negotiated, abandoned the project.
Activists say corporate interests are still hard at work
trying to get MAI-like rules passed in other venues — like
the WTO. Still, the demise of MAI as we knew it is a testament
to the power informed and active citizens can have.
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WTO vs. The People
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