'We do not want your charity, we do not want your loans. Those in the North have to understand our struggle and to realise it is also part of their own. Everywhere the rich are getting richer, the poorpoorer, and the environment is being plundered. Whether in the Northor South, we face the same future... Globalisation should mean wewant to globalise human society, not business. Life is not business.'
A farmer from Karnataka, India"They never knew what hit them. They had assumed it would bebusiness as usual, the way it had been for decades. Rich men gather,meet, decide the fate of the world, then return home to amass morewealth. It's the way it's always been. Until Seattle."
- Michael Moore, U.S comedian (not the WTO director general)"In a very real sense, the Zapatista movement emerged as atentative and transitory solution to precisely the problem whichconfronts us everywhere: how to link up a diverse array oflinguistically and culturally distinct peoples and their struggles,despite and beyond those distinctions, how to weave a variety ofstruggles into one struggle that never losses its multiplicity."
Peoples' Global Action (PGA) is an international network thatwas originally inspired by the Zapatista struggle in Mexico. PGA hada hand in events such as the June 18th Global Day of Action which sawLondon's financial centre shut down, and the 'Battle of Seattle' anti-World Trade Organisation protests, alongside hundredsof other not-so-(in)famous events. Due to its diffuse and fluidnature as well as not having any offices, paid staff, funds or bankaccounts, the role of PGA and its link between different events hasremained obscure. We hope this publication clarifies these links andhelps to further build the PGA network and the whole movement ofpositive resistance to capitalism.
When deciding toput this together we have been faced with the complexities ofrepresentation. While not wanting to speak for, or on behalf ofanyone beyond ourselves, we have been forced by limitations of spaceand the sheer volume of information available from groups, to edit -sometimes severely - other people's writing. We've highlighted whatseems to be exciting, interesting and inspiring and tried our best tokeep its content and 'feel' of writing. But no doubt we'llhave made mistakes, so sorry if this is the case...
What you hold in your hand is anexpanded and revamped version of the PGA bulletin number 5 whichalready exists in various non-English forms. PGA bulletins havepreviously been a series of action reports, written by thoseinvolved, compiled by a team and sent around mostly via email and theweb. Many people do not have access to the internet, and arenot on the email lists where much of this information flows, so it isnecessary to regularly compille this information in printedform. We have used the action reports as the foundation forthis bulletin, which traces the trajectory of the PGA from itsfirst conference in February 1998 until now.
What follows has been collated, edited and laid-outby a collective of revolutionaries/activists/people (OK, so we've hadproblems defining ourselves!) living in the UK who often work under the banners 'Reclaim The Streets' and 'Earth First!'. This isessentially a PGA bulletin for a UK audience, but we've produced alarge print-run so we can give copies to groups requesting them fromother English-speaking countries. This is in the hope that ourall-night editorial get-togethers might inspire other groups to makemore use of the information collected for future PGA bulletins.
We welcome comments, corrections and all yourfeedback, however vitriolic(!) Ideas for writing/ theory/ analysis tobe included with the next collection of action reports are welcome,which we'll pass on to the next group mad enough to take on the nextedition. We can be contacted via the Reclaim TheStreets (London) address, see resources on page 30.The editorialcollective, London, Feb 2000.
Our resistance is as transnational as capital
An international day of protest action and carnival, againstglobal capitalism, to coincide with the third ministerial meeting ofthe World Trade Organisation in Seattle, USA. Over seventycities worldwide erupt in anger. (www.n30.org)
Seattle... Thursday... 01/12/99... 01:10:14...
As I write this riot squads and the national guard are shooting teargas, concussion grenades, rubber bullets, pepper spray (from cannonsand directly into faces), using long batons, boots, etc. againstpeaceful protesters, shoppers, workers, and anyone else they comeacross.
Yesterday (Nov 30),what seemed to be at least 100,000 people took to the streets ofSeattle for non-violent protest, civil disobedience, direct action,and also fucking shit up. Riot cops gassed people sitting on the ground and dancing in front of them at 9:30am. The next time I wasgassed, I was again sitting non-violently - backed up by the InfernalNoise Brigade, a marching band of anarchists in matching bandoutfits, fuzzy hats, and gas masks with flag twirlers, a drum corpsand others, marching and standing in formation, as we waited to getgassed! As we dispersed they shot the tear gas ahead of us up the block, in front of us, trapping people in alleys.
By 3pm, the United Steel Workersand IWW decided to break from the homongous (and only permit granted,cop escorted) march and head straight into the heart of things andget into a face off with cops. There were many people now arriving intown who had not received any protest training, had no experience ofthis sort of thing, and had no idea what was going on.
This face off led toconfrontation (another attack from cops), this led to a huge standoff at 5pm. Again, the Infernal Noise Brigade marched right up infront, this time blockaded with burning dumpsters, in front of theriot squads and 'the peacemaker', an armoured artillery cop vehicle.More people were out in the streets, checking things out, pissed atthe cops, who fired gas, concussion grenades, rubber bulletsconstantly. It was about this time that the rioting really brokeloose, curfew was declared, and the cops started to drive people outof downtown. They followed far beyond the perimeter they declared, atleast two miles out of downtown into a neighbourhood which thenresponded in kind as best they could. This fighting kept on until early hours.
I've been gassed more times than I can count now, sprayed with pepper spray, seen children, old women, and anyoneelse you can imagine, brutalised. A girl shot between the eyes with arubber bullet. People lying on the ground losing consciousness inclouds of gas, running blind and vomiting if they can.
Today has continued beyond that, with the declaring of martial law, police chief refusing to comment when asked if gas and bullets are beingused, claiming that all explosions (the concussion grenades which arefired in rapid succession into crowds) are pipe bombs thrown bydemonstrators. The police declared a NO Protest zone in the core ofdowntown. By this early afternoon, they went outside of that zone,way beyond it, firing gas and grenades and rubber bullets intocrowds, driving us into an outdoor market and gassing the people onthe streets shopping, eating lunch, going home, etc. Then columns ofriots squads began to occupy streets, beating people, herding peopleto the waterfront. There has not been a curfew imposed in Seattlesince WWII, and martial law was last declared in 1919.
The solidarity here has been amazing, steelworkers supporting ecology activists supporting anarchists. Lots of citizenscompletely in agreement and completely disgusted by the police stateactions. The space that is being used by Direct Action Networks(including Art and Revolution, Reclaim the Streets, Food Not Bombs,etc.) is an amazing hub. The few days before this civil war erupted,they held workshops on legal rights, direct action training, etc.
There are over 500 people in jail, practicing disobedience and jail solidarity there. Supposedly jails are full,which is why the cops have become so much more brutal, as they havenowhere to put us. Yesterday they arrested almost no one atall, and when asked why not, the chief replied "you can't justarrest people for nothing." Oh, but you can brutalise them intosubmission.
What some would call deserving businesses were "targeted" (starbucks, nike, gap, etc.). In myexperience, almost all destruction came in response to police attackson non-violent protestors (not to mention the young black kids takingto the streets after years of police attacks). This is an all-out warat this point, and it is amazing to me that in the face of bodyarmour, batons, grenades, gas, pepperspray, rifles, and what ispretty much a tank, we are defending ourselves with only wettedbandanas, swim goggles (if you're lucky), baking soda and watersolutions, and solidarity. I am writing to you from a militarizedzone where they are laying siege to entire neighbourhoods in the nameof "restoring peace", a peace that exists save for the violence they bring. For every news segment showing "the anarchists in black" smashing windows, how about us anarchistsgiving medical aid and helping people in the streets while underattack? The organizing is incredible, medical and communicationteams, daily meals, jail solidarity. It's amazing to see all thered/black flags and neckerchiefs flying everywhere.
The millennium round.
Geneva, Switzerland: While in Seattle hundreds of protesterswere jailed and a curfew declared, the WTO Head quarters in Genevawas plunged into darkness. Computers crashed, communications toSeattle were wiped out; the chaos could only be solved after a fewhours. A group with the poetic name of 'Les Reinettes Vertes'(the green apples) caused a short-circuit and explosion in the powersupply building of the WTO. The group said in a brief communiqué ithad targeted the WTO because it believes the watchdog doesn't givepeople a voice and aimed to maximise the volume of internationalcommerce while forgetting that all transport pollutes.
From Canada to Mexico, the whole length of the West coast ofNorth America, dock workers known as 'longshoremen' shut ports insolidarity with those in Seattle. Dozens of trucks carrying shippingcontainers were delayed at the entrance to the California Unitedcontainer terminal as hundreds of West Coast dockworkers stopped the movement of cargo.
Seoul, South Korea. KOPA staged a demonstration in front ofthe downtown Government buildings. A farmer cried "the UruguaryRound has been the source of countless tears and blood shed byfarmers, the WTO New Round is a matter of life and death to the farmers. Also the Seoul Human Rights Film Festival acted in solidaritywith the international day of action, showing 3 films on the effectsthat the WTO, IMF and neo-liberal globalisation has had on the peopleof the world.
The KOPA said "We are recieving news from Seattle of the demonstrations and are greatly motivated and moved by them.Our struggle is your struggle! Power to the People!
Brazil, Santos: On November 30th, the Green AlternativeCollective (CAVE), the libertarian network of Baixada Santista (RLBS)and the libertarian union of Baixada Santista (ULBS), organised aprotest against the global capitalist system in Santos, in the stateof Sao Paulo. The action involved environmentalists and anarchistsperforming a theatre piece based on "The Governed", a text byFrench anarchist Pierre Proudhon. Besides the performance there wereabout 30 people dressed as clowns who distributed about 1000 leafletsdenouncing poverty and capital to people passing by. There were alsopeople holding posters and banners saying "Resistance and DirectAction to Globalisation", "Rebel Yourself", "No toDestructive Progress" and "Brazil, 500 years of Indian, Black andPopular Resistance". N30 Reports
N30 in Israel: about 30 people went to the US embassy toprotest the WTO. Among them were a group from the "women inblack" vigil, people from the East Mediteranian AnarchistCollective, direct action greens (two from the PGA caravan toseattle) and a few commies who insisted in holding their partypropaganda high...
"They are worried about a few windows being smashed. They shouldcome and see the violence being done to our communities in the nameof liberalisation of trade." A Philippino activist
Manila, 3rd Dec, Protesters tried to force their way into the gates of the U.S. Embassy in Manila for a "lightning rally"against the violent dispersal and arrests of protesters in Seattle,Washington.
Amsterdam 3rd Dec, people demonstrated in front of the Americanconsulate in Amsterdam, to show solidarity with all those arrested in Seattle.
Pakistan, 5th Dec, Multan. More than 20 goups demonstrated,while the leaders from different communities and organisations heldspeeches against the police violence in Seattle. N30 Reports
Mexico, On 11th Dec, around 500 students at the UNAM (AutonomousUniversity of Mexico) staged a march and rally in front of the U.S.Embassy protesting the repression in Seattle during the meeting ofthe WTO and demanding freedom for Mumia Abu Jamal. - a blackjournalist facing death penalty in the US. The State police repliedwith very violent repression as the students were leaving. N30 Reports
Interference FM, the pirate radio collective that broadcast across London on June 18th, repeated broadcasting again on November 30thagainst the commodification of the airwaves. They transmittedon the frequency used by Millennium FM 106.9. The pirates were takenoff air at around 4pm in a large operation by the Department of Tradeand Industry (DTI), responsible for enforcing the state control ofradio and TV transmissions.
Cyber activities: The official WTO website (www.wto.org) was put outof action for part of the day. Throughout the night the SeattlePolice Department radios were fed live over the internet, allowinglisteners to hear the latest developments in Seattle as the 'troops' moved in, and the curfew began.
Argentina: Buenos Aires an activist coalition carried out amocking performance in front of the Stock Exchange. People, nature,and "values" were sold and auctioned at low price anddemonstrators had their bodies "deregulated" to the soundof a band playing. The street was declared a "beyond the market" zone N30 Reports
.>> >> Australia: Brisbane Activists protest against the WTO outside Brisbane Stock Exchange.
>>>> Brazil: Santos Green Alternative Collective, the libertariannetwork of Baixada Santista and the libertarian union of Baixada Santista performed street theatre, while clowns distributed leafletsdenouncing poverty and capital. People carried posters and banners saying "Resistance and Direct Action to Globalisation","Rebel Yourself", "No to Destructive Progress"and "Brazil, 500 years of Indian, Black and PopularResistance".
>> >> Canada: QuÈbec demonstratorsfrom the anti-WTO coalition toured the heart of the city visiting theParliament, Ministry of Industry and several banks, street theatre was performed and the day culminated in a dance for people beforeprofit.
>> Czech Republic: Prague Food Not Bombs served freefood, and supermarkets were leafleted.
>> >> England: Halifax a Nestle factory was occupied and a banner dropped outside.
>> London: the Construction Safety Campaign held ademonstration outside the Canadian Embassy protesting at Canada'sattempt to use the WTO to reverse the decision by several EUcountries to ban asbestos use. A group of students picketed theLewisham branch of Citi bank against the under funding andprivatisation of education. A street theatre/ people's court relatingto human rights abuses and environmental devastation in the NigerDelta was performed by Nigerian exiles and British environmentalactivists outside the Magistrates Court in Covent Garden. 2,000people gathered at Euston station for a rally jointly organised by Reclaim the Streets and the London Strike Support Group to highlightlinks between the WTO free trade agenda and the privatisation ofpublic transport. Later a police van was overturned and set on fire. N30 Reports/ Leaflet
>> Leeds: faced by over 300 police around 50 protestors handedout leaflets outside companies.
>> Manchester: Lloyds Bank wasoccupied and shut down by 50 activists, who then proceeded to blockthe road outside.
>> Totnes: A disused garage and an old TollHouse, soon to be "luxury flats" were squatted to drawlocal people's attention to the WTO.
>> >> France: Lille 12 banks got painted in red during the night, including the 'BanqueCentrale de France'. N30 Reports
>> Avesne-sur-helpe: flyers weredistributed in different schools and in front of the Chamber ofIndustry and Trade and art groups performed a theatre piece. N30 Reports
>>Dijon: 30 people chained themselves to the doors of the Dijon Chamberof Commerce and the next door bank.
>> Toulouse: people hungbig anti-WTO boards in the main street of the town centre, while anticapitalist Father Christmas's gave rotten capitalist fruits topassersby.
>> >> Germany: Berlin a parade pointed out the consequences of neoliberal politics and globalisation at local levelwith mock slogans and fake banners crying for more order, moresecurity and more police. Slide shows projected on building walls ("Jam the WTO").
>> Tuebingen & Bochum: two groups symbolised the WTO negotiations as a football game, the ball being the world.
>> Hamburg: Food not Bombs distributed food topeople in the street.
>> Munich: 150 people protested againstSiemens, a TNC which became rich during the Hitler's fascismbecause they used Jewish and other prisoners as slaves, they havealso recently tried to get involved with in the construction of theMaheshwar dam in the Narmada valley.
>> >> South Korea: Seoul KoPA staged a demonstration in front of the governmentbuildings in downtown Seoul. The Seoul Human Rights Film FestivalOrganising Committee showed three films on the effects that the WTO,IMF, and neo liberal globalisation has had on the people of theworld.
>> >> India: New Delhi: representatives andsupporters of Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement, NBA)enter the German embassy to deliver 11,000 protest postcards frompeople of the Maheshwar area. 100 other NBA activists protest outsidethe embassy with banners and placards against the dam and the WTO.500 members of NBA, along with scores of activists from JagertiMahila Samiti (Committee for the Awakening of Women, a grassrootsmovement from the slums of Delhi), Prawaha (a students' organisation), the National Alliance of Peoples' Movements andseveral local organisations, held a protest against the WTO near RajGhat, where the ashes of Mahatma Ghandi are buried.
>> Narmada: More than 1000 people from 60 villages participated in an anti-WTOprocession with bullock-carts organised by Rewa Ke Yuva (Youths forNarmada.)
>> Bangalore: Several thousand farmers from alldistricts of Karnataka (KRRS),
>> >> Ireland: Limerick 20people from various groups held loud protest outside a McGarbage, aHMV, a Burger King and a Penny's.
>> >> Iceland: Protests targeted a US military base and embassy demanding "YanksOut".
>> >> Italy: Rome A group occupied the HQ ofthe "National Committee for Biosafety", hanging banners against GMOs and the WTO.
>> Milan: Permanent info tent inLargo Cairoli, a very central square, to inform the citizens aboutthe WTO and the reasons for the protests against it - but also aboutthe Narmada and Itoitz dams and the prison camps for migrants. In the evening public debate at the Social Centre Leoncavallo.
>>Arezzo: Jugglers, musicians and artists made a creative demonstrationthrough the main streets.. N30 Reports
>> >> Luxembourg: the"central council of dispersed anti-WTO opponents" penetratethe ministry responsible for the WTO negotiations and drop a big banner from the second floor saying "Stop the WTO - for fairtrade". N30 Reports
>> >> Netherlands: Amsterdam at Schipholairport over 100 activists demanded free tickets to Seattle from the three airline companies sponsoring the WTO summit. Banners wereunfurled and pamphlets were distributed exposing the sponsors.
>> >> Philippines: Manila 8000 union members andactivists rally outside the U.S. embassy and presidential palace.
>> Bacolod: rally against President Joseph Estrada's plans toamend the constitution allowing for greater foreign investment. N30 Reports
>> Iloilo: protest against the 1995 Mining Act, which allows100 percent foreign equity in local projects. N30 Reports
>> >>Pakistan: more than 8000 demonstrated at the Muzafer, carrying banners and posters with the slogan 'Shutdown the WTO', 'WTO is adangerous tool for agriculture of developing countries'.
>>>> Portugal: Lisbon About 300 people from leftist andenvironmental organisations and anarchist movements stopped the traffic carrying billboards, a couple of earth's and an octopus tore present capitalism. The city's Christmas tree and McDonald'swindows was covered with graffiti, fireeaters and street artistsperformed. The march ended in a square - the WTOctopus was burned.
>> Porto: protesters handed out flyers outside Via Catarina, a Shopping Centre, wearing t-shirts with slogans like "the world is not merchandise", "Against Capital, GlobalResistance", "Economy suffocates, idleness withers".Joined by musicians, fire-eaters and other street artists the demonstrators entered the shopping centre handing out fake money. N30 Reports
>> >> New Zealand: Wellington The Committee for theEstablishment of Civilisation (Wellington Anarchist Group) gave out free veggie burgers with a leaflet on WTO. There was a display and avideo showing how the sanctions are effecting the people in Iraq. N30 Reports
>> Aotearoa: About 25 people took part in a street theatre protest against the WTO, involving faceless stilt walkers representing the WTO leading politicians with 2 faces along the street and politicians with corporate serfs caught up in a net. N30 Reports
>> >> USA: Baltimore a Critical Mass and a black block ofAnarchists joined 125 demonstrators.
>> Nashville: Protestersentered the reception area of Al Gore's presidential campaigncarrying a 13 foot Ronald McDonald puppet and a large butterfly, singing 'No, no, no WTO'.
>> Washington: protestors turned outto express their displeasure with corporate greed and FDA inaction about genetically-engineered foods.
>> Boston: Demonstrators protestagainst the WTO outside the Federal Reserve Building.
>> Salt Lake City, Utah: The local Carpenter's Union along with the University of Utah Student Labour Action Committee and environmentalgroup Terra Firma hosted a fun march through the downtown area. N30 Reports
>> >> Wales: Cardiff an anti-WTO procession marched through the centre of town.
>> Bangor: A coalition of groups held a protest march in the high street...
The events in Seattle and elsewhere hatched contradictions. Whydid some people smash windows when others insisted the day should be peaceful? And is the enemy really the WTO?
From a leaflet at Euston Station, London on N30:
Capitalism will not be destroyed by one action - no matter how exhilarating. It will require a sustained social movement of millions of people. It will also require us to think about what we are doing,to understand our enemy and the forces we can draw on against it.
The concept of globalisation is now a commonplace both among those who support and many who try tocriticise the present world order, but this idea can be misleading.It is not about the weakening of good democratic nation states in favour of bad unaccountable corporations. It is the democratic states themselves and the big corporations that are setting up internationalframeworks like the WTO. The plan which governments and corporationsare trying to agree on is to dismantle the key barriers to the free passage of money and commodities while keeping up the barriers to the movement of people. Nation states are in no danger from the processof globalisation because they are to remain prisons for theirpeoples. These states are not getting weaker but are increasing theirpowers of repression. The state and capital are two sides of the samecoin.
We need to think why we are against the WTO. The problem is not free trade because the opposite of free trade isprotected markets, which are still markets. The problem is not corporate rule because the opposite of corporate rule is government rule, which is the control of our lives by politicians rather than businessmen. The problem is not the loss of sovereignty to anundemocratic and unaccountable institution because we are no more incontrol of the sovereign democratic state than we are in control of the WTO. The problem is not just private capitalists because state run enterprises rely on the same exploitation and drudgery. The problemis not big business because small business lives by the rules of the market just as much. The problem is not that the free trade ofthe WTO is not fair, because all trade is about the trading in humanmisery. The problem is capitalism as a whole, the fact that humanityis divided against itself, politically into separate nation states,economically into separate capitalist enterprises (whether private orstate run) and individually into separate atomised worker/consumerscompeting with each other.
From a group destroying property in Seattle:
We contend that property destruction is not a violent activity unless it destroys lives or causes pain in the process. Private property should be distinguished from personal property. The latter is based upon use while the former is based upon trade.
In a society based on private property rights,those who are able to accrue more of what others need or want havegreater power. By extension, they wield greater control overwhat others perceive as needs and desires, usually in the interest ofincreasing profit to themselves. Advocates of "free trade" would like to see this process to its logical conclusion:a network of a few industry monopolists with ultimate control over the lives of the everyone else. Advocates of "fair trade" would like to see this process mitigated by government regulationsmeant to superficially impose basic humanitarian standards.
As anarchists, we despise both positions. Private property--and capitalism, by extension--is intrinsically violent andrepressive and cannot be reformed or mitigated. Whether the power ofeveryone is concentrated into the hands of a few corporate heads ordiverted into a regulatory apparatus charged with mitigating the disasters of the latter, no one can be as free or as powerful as theycould be in a non-hierarchical society.
When we smash a window, we aim to destroy the thin veneer of legitimacy that surrounds private propertyrights. By "destroying" private property, we convertits limited exchange value into an expanded use value....A storefrontwindow becomes a vent to let some fresh air into the oppressive atmosphere of a retail outlet....The potential uses of an entire cityscape have increased a thousand-fold. The number of brokenwindows pales in comparison to the number broken spells - spells cast to lull us into forgetfulness of all the violence committed in thename of private property rights and of all the potential of a societywithout them. Broken windows can be boarded up (with yet morewaste of our forests) and eventually replaced, but the shattering ofassumptions will hopefully persist for some time to come.
From 'ColourLines', US magazine of race and action:
"I was at the jail where a lot of protesters were being held and a big crowd of people was chanting 'This Is What Democracy LooksLike!' At first it sounded kind of nice. But then I thought: is thisreally what democracy looks like? Nobody here looks like me."
In the vast acreage of published analysis about the splendid victory over the World Trade Organization in Seattle, it isalmost impossible to find anyone wondering why the demonstrators were overwhelmingly Anglo. How can that be, when theWTO's main victims around the world are people of color?Understanding the reasons for the low level of color, and what can be learned from it, is absolutely crucial if we are to make Seattle's promise of a new, international movement against imperialistglobalization come true.
A major reason for not participating given by many was lack of knowledge about the WTO. As one Filipina said, "Ididn't see the political significance of how the protest would beanti-imperialist. We didn't know anything about the WTO except thatlots of people were going to the meeting." The problem ofunfamiliarity with the WTO was aggravated by the fact that black and Latino communities across the U.S. lack internet access compared tomany white communities. So information about WTO and all the plansfor Seattle did not reach many people of color.
Limited knowledge meant a failure to see how the WTO affected the daily lives of U.S. communities of color."Activists of color felt they had more immediate issues,"said one activist. "Also, when we returned people told me ofbeing worried that family and peers would say they were neglectingtheir own communities, if they went to Seattle. They would be asked, 'Why are you going? You should stay here and help your people.' "Along with such concerns about linkage came the assumption that the protest would be overwhelmingly white as it was. A Bay Areaactivist originally from Mali, West Africa, said she had originallythought, "the whites will take care of the WTO, I don't need togo." Another activist said, "I think even Bay Areaactivists of color who understood the linkage didn't want to go to aprotest dominated by 50,000 white hippies."
Yet if only a small number of people of color went to Seattle, all those with whom I spoke foundthe experience extraordinary. They spoke of being changed forever."I saw the future." "I saw the possibility of peopleworking together." They called the giant mobilisation "ashot in the arm," if you had been feeling stagnant. More thanever, we need to work on our ignorance about global issues...we need to draw specific links between WTO and our close-to-home struggles incommunities of color.
'Seattle marked the end of a period. The idea of PGA was launched to focus on the WTO and 'free trade'. This chapter is over now. Mostpeople by are aware that this is not enough: The discourse is easilyrecuperated by the NGO reformist community which goes hand in handwith governments playing the trick of 'dialogue with civilsociety'. Most agree we need to extend our discourse and analysis if we don't want to end up contributing to the stabilisation andmodernisation of capitalism.
The WTO and 'free trade' are nothing but expressions of underlying social relations which need to be examined, understood and tackled. If we don'tmanage to formulate what we stand for, our protest will be easilyrecuperated and incorporated in the capitalist development.'