Transcript:

The fifth World Trade Organization WTO conference took place in Cancun, Mexico between September the 10th and 14th, 2003. I took this photo at 2:19 in the afternoon of the 10th, seconds after South Korean farmer Lee Kyung Hae stabbed himself on a fence to my left.

During the protest on September the 10th, people attempted to reach the conference site but were blocked by 8-foot steel fences. Lee Kyung Hae climbed one of those fences and stabbed himself in the chest. He was wearing a sign that read “WTO Kills Farmers.” He later died from his injuries.

Lee Kyung Hae was the president of the Federation of Farmers and Fishermen of Korea. He was protesting the devastating impact of neo-liberal trade policies on small farmers, arguing that cheap imports from developed nations were forcing them into poverty. Lee Kyung Hae was 56 years old and a father of two. His self sacrifice became a powerful and tragic symbol for the anti-globalization movement. In a note he left he said, “I am taking my life so that others can live.”

The slogan “WTO Kills farmers” gained prominence during the 2003 WTO conference following the suicide of the South Korean farmer. His death drew global attention. Lee Kyung Hae’s protest in Cancun became a powerful symbol for anti-globalization and food sovereignty movements worldwide. When Lee Kyung Hae died later that day at a nearby medical center, hundreds were there hoping his condition would improve.

I was next to Walden Bello, Philippine scholar and anti-globalization activist, when it was announced that Lee Kyung Hae had passed. Many people broke down in tears. Over 10,000 people including farmers, activists, and NGO representatives protested the WTO in Cancun in 2003. The demonstrators marched to protest free trade policies, they argued, benefited multinational corporations at the expense of farmers and developing countries. The conference collapsed without reaching consensus on major issues like agriculture and other areas of trade. 

Now the backstory:

I had just co-founded Global Justice Ecology Project along with Anne Petermann and one of our first actions as a new organization was for me to attend mass demonstrations against the WTO in Cancun, Mexico and document it. Soren Ambrose from “50 Years Is Enough” and I shared a room while we were there. We both couldn’t overlook the fact that while so many affluent people came to play, drink, and God knows what else goes on in Cancun, the Cancun that most of you probably have heard about.

And then there is another Cancun, a hidden Cancun that you don’t see, especially if you don’t really want to know any balance of reality. Walking outside of the glitzy Cancun one would notice a vastly different condition the people on the other side of the fence lived. Many of the people there were workers who served the affluent, who thought the worker’s duty was to serve them. It was actually pathetic. 

¡Lee Kyung Hae presente!