http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1039650,00.html>
>Poor farmers' mass show of strength
>
>By John Vidal in Cancun
>
>Up to 10,000 of the poorest Mexican farmers and trade unionists marched on
>the World Trade Organization's opening meeting yesterday, demanding that
>small farmers be protected from international big business and that trade
>rules should not determine issues of food and health.
>
>Police used tear gas to repel flag-burning demonstrators from a security
>fence at kilometre zero, where more than 1,000 heavily armed police and
>army were waiting with riot shields behind two metre high fences.
>
>American flags were set alight and hurled at the riot police along with
>other missiles. One man was seriously injured and 20 metres of the barrier
>was broken down by a mixture of militants and protesters.
>
>"We come peacefully. This is a war of ideas, and not weapons," said Juan,
>a Mexican peasant. The march, led by Mexicans from the Yucatan peninsula
>near Cancun, and joined by groups from more than 30 countries, "would have
>been 10 times the size if local people had been able to afford to come",
>said a spokesman for Via Campesino, an umbrella body representing millions
>of farmers worldwide.
...more..