- guardian.co.uk, Sunday September 14 2003 01.46 BST
The significance of this new force may not be felt until after Cancun. But if these three nations were to forge closer links, the United States and Europe would not be able to ignore them, nor their emergence at the head of the 'G23' - the ad hoc alliance of poor countries which argues that the world trading regime is organised for the sole benefit of America and Europe.
They have a strong case. Over the six days of the Cancun meeting, 30,000 people died of hunger and the world trade system must take some blame. While rich countries protect their industries and farmers with subsidies, weak nations are obliged to open their markets in the name of 'free trade'. Last year, for example, the US passed a law giving its farmers $180bn over ten years.
Europe is little better, despite boasts that it is reforming (for far from altruistic reasons) the Common Agricultural Policy. With little but this promise of change in ten years' time, the EU is asking countries such as Brazil and India to show a willingness to compromise. This is disingenuous. The subsidies in question reward, for example, the Duke of Westminster in Britain and Ted Turner in the US, while putting poor farmers out of business. Such double standards shame us. Nor are they in our interests. Terrorism and lawlessness thrive where poverty and despair are met with injustice.
We hope that in the final hours of Cancun, Europe and the US recognise that growth in the developing world is a goal worth fighting, and paying, for.
