Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999
Inter-Continental Caravan Reaches Cologne
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Inter-Continental Caravan Reaches Cologne for G8 Summit
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Cologne, 16th June 1999 - Around 450 representatives of peoples' movements from the South and the East will arrive tomorrow to Cologne to hold protests against the World Economic Summit, also known as G7/G8 Summit.
They have been in Europe since the 22nd of May participating in a programme of actions, meetings and demonstrations called "Inter-Continental Caravan for Solidarity and Resistance". This programme, arranged by a large network of grassroots groups in Europe ranging from organisations of the unemployed to groups working against genetic engineering, from squatted social centres to feminist organisations, has already taken the participants of the caravan to a total of 10 countries (1) and will culminate in the protests against the heads of state of the most industrialised countries of the world.
Although the largest chunk of the caravan participants represent Indian peoples' movements (which were the ones that proposed the project in mid-98), there are also representatives of the landless farmers' movement in Brazil, the Zapatistas in Chiapas (Mexico), the organisation of landless labourers from Bangladesh, the indigenous peoples of Chile, the Afro-American Network, human rights organisations from Nepal, environmental organisations in Ukraine, anti-nuclear organisations from Pakistan, etc. Among the Indian participants, the majority represents farmers' organisations, but also other social sectors such as the fisherfolk, the Adivasi (i.e. indigenous peoples), movements against big dams, etc. The caravan takes place in the framework of the worldwide network PGA - Peoples' Global Action against 'Free' Trade and the WTO (2).
The actions taken so far by the caravan include demonstrations in front of the headquarters of multinational corporations such as Novartis, Monsanto, Cargill, Nestle and others, at institutions such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the NATO, the FAO and the European Central Bank, and at events such as the summit of the European Union. Some direct actions, such as the destruction of two fields of genetically modified crops and one biotechnology laboratory in collaboration with the French Peasants' Confederation, or the painting Novartis' building in Barcelona along with a wide range of social and ecological organisations, have also been in the programme of the caravan. Finally, the exchange with European grassroots organisations has also been an important part of the last three weeks of caravan. One of the most important aims of the project was precisely the strengthening of the links between the participants and the European farmers, squatters, unemployed, environmentalists, feminists, pacifists and social activists in general. (3)
In Cologne, the organisations represented in the caravan will raise their voice against the plans of the industrial nations to continue pushing for trade and investment treaties that are designed to benefit transnational capital at the expense of people and nature. They will specifically oppose any attempts to start a new round of negotiations within the World Trade Organisation, a plan proposed by the European Union and endorsed by the USA and Japan. They will also reject and oppose the very concept of Third World debt, call for a ban on the use of genetically modified organisms in agriculture and denounce militarism and the nuclear industry in the North and the South.
The actions planned for that purpose include:
* a "Laugh Parade" in the afternoon of the 18th of June: Commenting on the supposed beneficial effects of neoliberal policies, and on the claims that the New World Order ruled by transnational capital will bring peace and prosperity for all, the caravan will let the "global leaders" know what they think of their policies in a clear and internationally understandable language.
* a protest at the headquarters of Bayer in the surroundings of Cologne, in the morning of the 18th
* critical participation on the Human Chain of the Jubilee 2000 campaign, in the early afternoon of the 19th (4)
* participation in the demonstration against the World Economic Summit in the late afternoon of the 19th.
* a resistance and culture camp from today till the 20th of June with free camping possibilities for all visitors who want to take part in the actions, as well as lots of music, good conversations and plenty of networking possibilities.
On the 18th of June there will be many other actions taking place all over the world as part of the Global Day of Action against Financial Centres (5).
For more information about the caravan, getting instructions to get to the resistance camp, etc. please phone +49-221-9816711, fax +49-221-9816799 or mail <icc99koeln@gmx.de>. For press enquiries phone +49-173-4197464, fax +49-221-9816799 or mail <icc99presse@gmx.de>.
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Notes:
(1) The countries visited were Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. There were visits arranged in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland and Poland, but these could not take place due to delays in the processing of the visas.
(2) For more information on the PGA please visit www.agp.org
(3) For more information about the caravan, including reports of past actions, pictures, press clippings, etc, please visit
http://www.squat.net/caravan/ or http://tmtm.homelinux.org/caravan/icc/
(4) The Human Chain of the Jubilee 2000 Campaign claims the existence of debts by Third World Countries and demands only their partial cancellation. The manifesto of the caravan does not accept any relation between the peoples of the South and those debts and calls for disobedience and disrespect towards those responsible: multilateral financial institutions, Northern banks and corrupt governments (most of which are controlled by Western powers).
(5) For more information about the day of action in June 18th please visit
http://www.greennet.org.uk/june18/
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Peoples' Global Action agpweb (AT) lists.riseup.net
against 'Free' Trade www.agp.org
and the WTO (PGA)