Rich vs poor at world trade talks Critics blame wealthy nations for the collapse of talks but developing

countries gain clout. CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - Food aid charities and environmental groups blamed th e United States and other wealthy nations Monday for the collapse of world trade talks, saying delegates from the rich countries had come to Cancun unprepared t o make concessions that would help the poor. But as ministers from the 146 member countries of the World Trade Organization ( WTO) get set to leave Cancun a day after world trade talks collapsed, at least o ne group had something to smile about. The new alliance of more than 20 developing countries, with Brazil, India and Ch ina at its heart, emerged as a major force during five days of ultimately fruitl ess discussions in the glitzy beach resort and looks set to stay a power in worl d trade politics. The WTO's member countries now need to try to rescue something from the wreckage of the Cancun summit, which had been intended to inject new momentum into the g roup's stalled global free trade negotiations. States remain deeply divided, notably over how far and how fast to reform world farm trade to cut the massive subsidies that rich states pay their farmers and w hich developing countries say stop them competing. The European Union's main trade negotiator, Pascal Lamy, and other top officials were adamant that the search for a deal, which could give a multibillion boost to a sluggish world economy, would continue back at WTO headquarters in Geneva. And the new alliance of developing nations was equally firm that its newfound vo ice would continue to be heard loud and clear. "It was not possible to get a concrete result. But we think that we have achieve d some important things. Firstly, the respect for our group,'' said Brazil's for eign minister, Celso Amorim. The so-called G21 group of developing countries, which represents more than half the world's population and some two-thirds of its farmers, is united by a commo n commitment to getting the West to unwind subsidies running at nearly $1 billio n a day. It countered the traditionally huge weight the United States and the European Un ion wield within the WTO by combining a hard line towards the rich states with c alls for more understanding of the problems of the world's poor farmers. The talks in the Mexican Caribbean resort collapsed Sunday after developing coun tries walked out, accusing the wealthy nations of failing to compromise on agric ulture and other issues. Some world charities said the emergence of a group of poor countries acting as a bloc to press their interests against the United States and the EU was a good s ign. But they lamented the lost opportunity to start unwinding the massive subsidies rich countries pay to their farmers, which poor countries say keep them poor. "Rich countries overplayed their hand and misjudged the strength of feeling and unity of the developing world, who want to make trade fair and have a stake in g

lobal prosperity," the aid group Oxfam said in a statement. "Oxfam takes no deli ght in this failure. It is a missed opportunity." Charlie Kronick, chief policy adviser on trade issues for the environmental grou p Greenpeace, said Cancun proved that the entire international trade system need ed to be rethought, with greater attention to the needs of the poor and the envi ronment. "The bottom line is that no deal is much better than a very bad deal," he said. "They made it very clear at this meeting that these weren't rogue states that we re trying to scupper the deal," he said. "The developing countries were sick of being patronized and being told what a fantastic deal this was for them and that they should just take it."