40 representatives of peasant, antidam(?), fisherfolk, and womens groups participated in an intense day of protest in Iruna, as part of the tour which is growing throughout Europa during the Inter Continental Caravan for Solidarity and Resistence.
In the morning, there was a press event in the central Castillo Square, with a big array of media, including various TV stations. During this, they exposed teh the threat which globalisation and free trade agreements imposed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), multinationals, and genetically manipulated seeds pose towards India and the whole of humanity. In addition, they denounced the situation of women, and the worsening of this situation in the front of the new neoliberal economic order, the situation of traditional fisherfolk, and the megalomaniac dam(???) projects in the Narmada River Valley in India.
Afterwards, a group left to the Public University, and with the support of the Navarra Platform Against Transgenic, they ran to the university with the happy music from trikitixa, carrying out a firs "occupation" of the library, in which an Indian peasants told his doubts about the myth of "scientific progress" and denounced those who impose transgenics on us, telling us that peasants already know that they will not solve the question of world hunger, because hunger is a problem of distribution.Certain academics were indignant, but the vast majority gave a huge ovation. And from there, to the centre of Biotechnology Research which is connected to the university and where they are making experiment with genetically manipulated Navarro pepper.
The centre was occupied and in the end the director agreed to hear the protests of the Indian delegation, and conceded to give them an "audience" in his office (???). He was given a placard which said "transgenics stop!" and created some space for part of the Indian delegation to sit inside the building (????)
From there to the Gaztetxe (Occupied Social Centre) to eat. Everyon was invited to eat an Indian meal, and the Gaztetxe filled up with people wanting to get to know each other.
Different media (mainly alternative ones) interviewed 5 of the represantative in the Casa de la Solidaridad-Elkartasunaren Etxea (Zabaldi) before joining more than 200 of us again in the Castillo Place to denounce this international economic dis-order, and with the will to create a genuine globalisation, that of the people opposed to the this system here, in India, or anyother part of the planet. They ran through several streets until arriving at the Taconera park where there was a symbolic act with the planting of a local species and another from india, there was an exchange of gifts, and more denunciations against teh themes already mentioned (???) with distinct intervention of the participants of the caravan.
The dinner ended with a party in the agriculture school(????) Illundain in which the lodgers met them with Basque and Indian songs and some dances.
Tuesday the 1st June, they left for Tafalla to visit an organic granary and later they took part in an act of denunciation in the central square of Tudela (Navarra) again, before leaving for Gallur.
In parallel to this, 3 other Indians left for Rioja for the whole day. The caravan, which is composed in total of 600 Indians (together with representatives of the Mapuches from Chile, from the Landless Movement of Brazil and from other countries), will continue traversing Europe until the 18th June, concluding in Cologne (Germany) in the days of protest against the G8 Summit, which should be very lively.