The Real Cancun

Cancun is infamous for its never-ending strip of hotels, interrupted only by bars and clubs. It has one purpose, and that is the fulfillment of every rich tourist’s desire. It is intentionally divided into several parts, and is always expanding to fit the number of settlers coming here to find jobs.

Most tourists never leave the Zona Hotelera, the long row of expensive shops, hotels, restaurants, and bars. It is designed so that no American will feel far from home, with McDonalds, KFC, Hard Rock Cafe and Margaritaville right around the corner. And for the more exotic tastes there is always the Rainforest Cafe. Through the middle of all of this runs the "street of opportunity," where one is able to acquire drugs of one’s choosing.

Going down Avenue Kukulkan, a long strip of golf courses and polluted lagoons, you come along Km. 0, the point at which the scenery begins to change. Still there are the multinationals like Pizza Hut and OfficeMax. The hotels are gone, as well as the beach and most of the gringos. Here are the markets and smaller “quainter” restaurants. Here is where the tourists would come to experience some “culture.” Beyond this is unknown to them.

Not far away are the barrios that are overflowing with those without work. The myth has spread like wildfire. People have surged here in the hope of attaining success by the power of the dollar. Now, all of the positions are filled, and even with knowledge of English there is little hope of ever finding work.

Here, in these neighborhoods, there is often no fresh water or electricity, and no sewage treatment plants. The groundwater is contaminated from sewage runoff, so self-sufficiency is hopeless. Education is often ignored in the face of poverty, and drugs have become a useful response to the boredom that goes along with it.

The lagoons are becoming polluted by leakage from the hotels. The very attractions which support the infrastructure of Cancun, the beaches and the sea, are perishing under the weight of capitalism. This means that Cancun is dying, and with it goes the whole population of Cancun. Those who have built Cancun will surely go down with it, while only those who profit will escape, unharmed.

It was in Cancun, against this contradictory backdrop of luxury and poverty, that the Fifth World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference was held from September 10th to 14th, 2003. It was also where activists from around the world converged with workers and farmers to bring light to the economic issues threatening their existence.

Need some background on the WTO? Click here.

Independent Media Center

One of the main reasons why we braved the tourist hell was to set up the Independent Media Center (IMC). The Independent Media Center is a vast network of independent journalists around the world who strive to produce an alternative to the corporate media coverage experienced by most of the global population. It was started during the Third WTO Ministerial in Seattle which took place in 1999, and from there it has multiplied exponentially to 120 centers around the world.

Four years later, the IMC is continuing its coverage of social and political issues surrounding neo-liberalism at the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun. In addition to the IMC in Chiapas, Mexico, the heartland of the Zapatista rebellion, Independent Media Centers have been active in south and central America in the last couple of years. IMCs have been covering the uprising initiated in Argentina against neo-liberalism in the winter of 2001 and similar struggles in countries such as Columbia, Ecuador, Brazil and Guatemala.

The Preparation

The WTO Ministerial in Cancun was an opportunity for campesinos (Mexican farmers) to confront one of the many institutions that imposed a lifestyle of poverty upon them. Demonstrators from all over the world were also coming to Cancun to voice their solidarity with the campesino struggle and show how widespread and far-reaching the economic effects of WTO policies are.