Ministers at the World Trade Summit in Cancun get down today to the hard task of trying to dig world free trade talks out of a deep rut, in the shadow of the suicide of a protesting South Korean farmer.
The five-day meeting aims to put the WTO's Doha Round of global free trade negotiations back on track after a series of deadlines have been missed, with most controversy focusing on massive subsidies rich states pay to farmers.
Developing countries and anti-globalisation activists blame the some $300 billion doled out mainly by the United States and the European Union to their farmers each year for distorting trade and keeping poorer producers out of world markets.
"Sadly, the reality of the international trading system today does not match the rhetoric. Instead of open markets, there are too many barriers that stunt, stifle and starve," United Nations Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan said in a speech read out on his behalf.
Some 5,000 protesters who tried to march on the conference center found riot police blocking their path miles from the plush part of the coastal town where ministers met in a conference center protected by high metal fences.
A South Korean farmer stabbed himself in the chest during the demonstrations and later died in hospital. A friend said his suicide was an "act of sacrifice" to show his disgust at the WTO and its policies.
The US and the EU, the biggest forces and the biggest subsidisers in world farm trade, have long been under attack over their policies.
But a new alliance of 21 developing countries, bringing together traditional farm exporters including Brazil and Asian giants India and China, has emerged in Cancun and threatens to pile the pressure on the two powers. "This is a significant shift in the dynamic structure of this organization (WTO)," said Australian Trade Minister Mr Mark Vaile.
But the EU, which spends some $100 billion a year on farm subsidies, has warned its fellow members of the 146-member WTO that there are limits to how far it can go.
Britain's Food, Rural Affairs and Environment Minister Ms Margaret Beckett said that a plan for some limited reform being pushed jointly at the talks by the European Union and the United States was a good offer.
"The EU has made a very strong bid and it is important that people start responding to that," she told journalists.
Progress on the farm issue is seen as crucial to what happens elsewhere at Cancun, where ministers must also decide whether to widen the scope of the Doha Round of free trade negotiations to include new areas such as investment.
The EU and Japan, another country on the defensive over protectionist farm policies, are among the strongest advocates of adding new areas, but the idea is opposed by many developing countries.
Ministers are striving to reach accord on a blueprint for reforming trade in both farm and industrial goods to give the WTO some hope of achieving its goal of concluding the round - which economists say could give a multi-billion dollar boost to the world economy - by the end of next year.