Protesters Swarm the Streets at W.T.O. Forum in Cancún

[DeathvadeR]

CANCÚN, Mexico, Sept. 13 — A compromise proposal issued at the meeting of the World Trade Organization here today rejects most of the pleas for change in agriculture from the developing world, including African cotton producers, and generally allows the United States to maintain its hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies.

The proposal, which had been prepared to help narrow the differences that have stalled progress on a global trade agreement, was met with disappointment by several of the developing nations that formed the so-called Group of 21 to stand together against the world's economic heavyweights, the United States, Europe and Japan.

Celso Amorim, the Brazilian minister of foreign affairs, said in an interview that the compromise draft offered "much less than we would expect."

<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/14/international/americas/14TRAD.html?ex=1064116800&en=4e1bd9a6ede14399&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE>