Editorial

The Significance of the Collapse of the WTO Talks to the Struggle Against Imperialism

In the wake of the failure of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial in Cancun to reach agreement on any outstanding issue, there are not a few voices claiming that the people's movement has won a great victory and that imperialism is in retreat. Such euphoria does a serious disservice to the people, underestimating the strength of the imperialist system and overestimating the strength of the people's movements against it. It also creates dangerous illusions about the role being played by the governments of various "developing" countries, whose interests are not necessarily synonymous with the interests of their people.

The failure of the Cancun Ministerial was primarily the result of the inability of the big powers, especially the United States and European Union, to reach an agreement on how they will carve up the world amongst themselves. This inter-imperialist contradiction, in turn, provided a space for various "developing" countries to resist, to a limited extent, the relentless destruction of their economies at the hands of the imperialists. Meanwhile, the popular mobilization against the WTO Ministerial in Cancun was actually smaller than previous such mobilizations, indicating that this particular movement is facing a crisis of sorts. Ignoring these realities can only block the path for advance of the anti-imperialist movement.

There is no doubt that the U.S. suffered a setback to its plans to use the WTO to put the EU in its place and extend its own stranglehold over international trade. However, that neither means that the U.S. has been defeated, nor that it has even been weakened significantly. In fact, within hours of the collapse of the Cancun talks, American trade representatives were stating that the U.S. would merely shift its attention to developing bilateral trade agreements and to redoubling its efforts to push through the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). They also hinted strongly that the U.S. would retaliate against those countries which dared to oppose its positions in Cancun, a position that U.S. President George W. Bush has reiterated in recent days.

Far from being in retreat, U.S. imperialism clearly intends to pursue an even more aggressive trade policy towards the rest of the world. It will carry out more economic sabotage against its competitors and those countries which continue to resist its dictate, while using bribery and coercion to force other countries into trade agreements which represent little more than economic annexation of those countries by the United States.

The emphasis being placed by U.S. officials on the FTAA can only mean that the U.S. intends to step up its aggression against the struggles of the peoples of Latin America for sovereignty and social progress. It means that it will redouble its attempts to buy off Brazil and to overthrow the government of Venezuela. It also means that it will escalate its brutal 40-year campaign to destroy the Cuban revolution and restore the control of the U.S. over that island.

In other words, the collapse of the WTO talks are another sign that imperialism, and especially U.S. imperialism, has entered a more aggressive, violent and dangerous phase in which all of the struggles of the peoples will come under greater pressure and greater attacks. Now is not the time for euphoria and illusion-making. Now is the time for all progressive and revolutionary individuals to redouble their efforts to forge an effective anti-imperialist movement, one which is capable of sustaining a consistent and protracted struggle to defeat imperialism regardless of the situation which might emerge in the coming months and years.