Caricom is concerned Caribbean issues are being overlooked

Both groups want deeper cuts in the subsidies paid to farmers in wealthy countries than have been offered by the European Union, the United States and Japan.

Alliance

But observers say the new alliance may turn out largely to be one of short-term convenience, as the interests of the two groups in their different stages of development do not always coincide.

What we have found is that many of these issues are not experiencing any progress   Richard Bernal

Richard Bernal of Caricom's Regional Negotiating Machinery says he's concerned about issues of relevance to the Caribbean being sidelined:

“What we have found is that many of these issues are not experiencing any progress. Many issues have been put as secondary issues and that the developed countries are dictacting to a large extent what issues become priority, so we feel that there has to be a balance.”

Violence

This collaboration follows the violence that marred yesterday's events in Hong Kong.

The largest group of protesters were South Korean rice farmers, who among the most heavily subsidised in the world - and the most militant.

Over 1,000 - dressed in white peasant clothes - chanted "Down with WTO", listening to the Internationale, the Communist anthem sung in Cantonese, while their own drummers hammered and clanged their cymbals.

They fear that new agreements Korea says it is prepared to sign will lead to the disappearance of the 3.5 million farming jobs and an end to food security for the country.