Actions in Geneva, 16th to 20th of May 1998:
(from the PGA Bulletin #1)
Other actions against the WTO
|
|
- A big street party will take place in Geneva on Saturday the 16th, two days before the beginning of the conference, and parallel to the G8 meeting in Birmingham. The party will seize the city for the whole day. A special train is being planned from Italy to join the party. There will from two to three thousand farmers from UPS (the local small farmers union) selling local food on the street (although this might be postponed to Monday the 18th). There will also be people coming from all Swiss cities.
- There will be a March against Unemployment and Exclusion, leaving from several French cities to arrive to Geneva on the 15th. The march, organised by AC! (Act against Unemployment!), has the aim of participating in the actions against the WTO Ministerial Conference.
- A number of bicycle caravans will leave from the German cities Luechow (25th April), Dresden (23rd April) and Gießen (2nd May), will meet in Frankfurt on the 4th of May and head all together towards Geneva, to arrive on the 16th of May, just in time for the street party. The caravans, called "Money or Life?", will stop in several cities on the way (Hildesheim, Goettingen, Freiberg, Chemnitz, Gera, Jena, Erfurt, Haina, Darmstadt, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Freiburg, Basel, Aarau, Bern, Fribourg and Lausanne, probably also Wittingen, Wehnsen, Seesen, Gunkelrode, Saasen, Offenburg and Burgdorf) to do awareness-raising actions. Contact: WIWA Wendland c/o Abraxas, Marschtorstr. 56, D-29451 Dannenberg, Germany, tel.: +49-5862-7460 or +49-5842-247 fax: +49-5861-2527, email: wiwawend@mail.nadir.org
- On Sunday the 17th there will be a seminar for the local population and the guest activists. There will also be practical training on techniques of non-violent resistance to police repression.
- On Monday the 18th (the first day of the Ministerial Conference) there will be a "Peoplesí Trade Day" in Geneva, which shall involve the blocking of several symbolic centres of global capitalism (multinationals, fast food restaurants, banks, etc) with small-scale, local trade consisting of direct links between consumers and producers. The Peoplesí Trade Day will last the whole day, and will also involve blocking the normal traffic in the city.
- On Tuesday the 19th (last day of the Ministerial Conference) and Wednesday the 20th (day of celebration for the 50th anniversary of the GATT) there will be more actions, which are still being discussed.
- During the whole period from the 15th to the 20th there will be a press team formed of representatives of peoplesí movements from all continents, collecting all kinds of material for the press (releases, picures, videos, etc) from Geneva and all other cities of the world and handing it to the press acredited to cover the Ministerial Conference. They will also organise three big press conferences with the main leaders of peoplesí movements from all over the world.
Other actions against the WTO:
**************************
- The World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fishworkers, which has been formed in 25 countries, is planning massive agitational programmes all over the world. Also, a world strike is being planned for the World Fisheries' Day, in November. These actions are being coordinated by Thomas Kocherry, President of the World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fishworkers.
- The Azadi Bachao Andolan (Save Freedom Movement) of India is planning to submit a memorandum to the president of India with 10 million signatures demanding the withdrawal of India from the WTO.
- In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, the Garment Workers Unity Forum will hold a massive demonstration against the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF.
- Speakers' Tour in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka: In these countries, the level of awareness about the role of WTO is still rather low. Some prominent speakspersons from India will be touring these countries to participate in awareness-raising campaigns and discuss with movements and interested groups.
- Saturday the 16th of May: "Street parties" all over the world, two days before the beginning of the WTO Ministerial Conference and during the G8 meeting in Birmingham. Thousands of people in cities around Europe and other parts of the world will simultaneously be dancing on the streets transforming privatised enclosed space into Festivals of Resistance against the car and fossil fuel industry, economic globalisation and corporate rule. Contact address: Reclaim the Streets! PO Box 9656 , London N4 4JY, UK, tel.: +44-171-2814621, email: rts@gn.apc.org
- There will be a "No Trade Day" in several cities in the USA, where activists will block the transport of merchandise by railway, truck and plane.
- There will be actions in several Canadian cities from the 18th to the 20th of May, inlcuding information session, demonstrations and some direct actions.
- There is a number of actions being discussed now in diverse Latin American countries. More news will follow in the updates.
These are only the actions about which we are certain. More actions will be added to the list in the next weeks.