Denver USA IMF/World Bank Protests (english)
by eric galatas 12:22pm Tue Sep 26 '00
fstv@fstv.org
Demonstrators take to streets of downtown Denver to show international solidarity with protests in Prague.
The movement to end corporate globalization paid a visit to downtown Denver businesses this morning.
Starting in Seattle, tour of activists armed with puppets, signs, and information on the escalating global corporate crime wave has grown into an international movement, and has shown no sign of fatigue. Mass protests have been instigated by indigenous peoples, youth, workers, and environmentalists in places like Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Los Angeles, London, Toronto, Ontario, Sydney, the Congo, and more.
Today, activists are taking to Denver streets in solidarity with the massive protests against IMF/World Bank policies in Prague. The protests began at 10am, in the downtown shopping corridor where symbols of the global corporate world order have set up shop: Starbucks, The Gap, and Nike Town are just a few of the targets.
At 1pm Mountain Time, demonstrators plan to take their anti-globalization army to the campaign headquarters of Vice President Al Gore, to protest the fate of the UW'A, who are trying to protect their ancient homelands from Occidental Petroleum. Gore's complicity in Occidental's business operations has been a subject of public outrage, thanks in part to the efforts of the Rainforest Action Network to increase the visibility of the UW'A's situation, who have threatened mass suicide if they are removed from their land.
This afternoon, according to Denver activist Doug Bohm, anti-globalization critics will join with Justice for Janitors in a rally to call attention to "the poor working conditions of those who serve the rich and arrogant."
"We just want everyone in Praha to know that since we can't be there with you on the streets, we are doing what we can in our own home town," said Bohm. "The same IMF/World Bank policies of 'structural adjustment' that have devastated Africa and Latin America are headed directly for the new third world inhabitants who work for slave wages in rich northern countries. But they won't get away with it, because the same impetus to globalize the economy has fueled a global movement to build a democratic economy, or at least one where the people choose the future and direction of how we can all make use of the resources that belong to us all."
Back to you, Praha.
Duluth Activists Hold S26 Soldiarity Demonstration (english)
by Ben Grosscup 1:21am Wed Sep 27 '00
phone: 218-724-2054 benmalone@aol.com
An article about an S26 Solidarity action in Duluth and the follow-up plan
About 40 people gathered in Duluth at the intersection of Lake Ave and Superior St. calling for an end to corporate globalization in their community. The demonstration included speakers talking about the soon approaching 5 year limit on social welfare benefits, the advancement of biotechnology, and worker's struggles at MEI — a metal working plant in Duluth. Reports of other protests around the world were read and a new fundraising idea to aid unionizing efforts in foreign poor countries was proposed.
The demonstrators are trying to build a movement in the Duluth/Superior area to confront corporate globalization locally. They are planning to follow up on the issues presented at their rally by discussing further organizing plans at a meeting on October 7, 2000, at 1 pm in Room 205, of the Damiano Center, 206 W. 4th St., Duluth.
FFI: Call Mali 728-3771 or Ben 724-2054
http://www.egroups.com/group/s26duluth
S26 Solidarity in Gainesville, FL USA (english)
by Rob Augman 6:28pm Tue Sep 26 '00
mvcot@hotmail.com
S26 Solidarity Rally in Gainesville turns into impromptu march through the streets and into Starbucks, Hooters, and so on!
S26 Solidarity rally is held in Gainesville, FL with the demonstrators disrupting Business-As-Usual at the World Bank/ IMF meetings in Prague, Czech Republic. The 50+ plus people rally was energetic and after an hour or two at one of the bussiest intersections in town it turned into an impromptu march through the busy streets blocking up traffic and blocking up Capitalism-As-Usual. Protestors chanted, played drums, held banners and signs, beat on drums, etc. The march went all the way into downtown rallying outside a new Starbucks Coffee Shop and then taking the rally inside chanting and disrupting the general schmoozing going on. The rally then proceeded back out and then into the new Hooters Restaurant where more chanting and general carnival-against-capital theme played out. The demo was a success and we are keeping updated about the actions on the streets of Prague and elsewhere around the world. Solidarity!
Hundreds march on WalMart in Western Mass for S26 (english)
by Don Ogden 8:05pm Tue Sep 26 '00
ahearnaa@aol.com
Some 3-500 demonstrators descended on WalMart in the westerm Massachusetts town of Hadley in solidarity with their sisters and brothers in Prague.
It was Teamsters, teachers and teachees, as well as trees in the western Massachusetts S26 action which took place in a parking lot next to WalMart in Hadley,MA/USA. There was no way the global corporado retailer could hide from their crimes as from three to five hundred workers, students, and community activists came together to protest the ills of globalization in their parking lot.
A Teamsters Union semi, decked out with banners, a stage and sound system dominated the scene as demonstrators gathered in the late afternoon under rainy skies. Union participation was strong, as was attendence by hundreds of students from the Five College Area and a good number of older community activist as well. Mass Earth First!'s Forest Stump stood in for the surrounding woodlands and a colorful assortment of puppets, placards and banners spoke to the many issues effected by global corporate hegemony.
After some short speeches and a sweatshop fashion show, chanting rose among the assembled and they marched single file to WalMart's door, delivering a LOUD & CLEAR message:
NO MORE SWEATSHOPS, NO MORE UNION BUSTING, NO MORE ECOLOGICAL DESTRUCTION, NO MORE BULLSHIT!
Western Massachusetts hasn't seen such unity in ages. No time in recent memory has seen so many activists from different communities come together in the pouring rain to strike a blow against The Machine. Fittingly, as the march retuned to the rally point a massive rainbow stretched across the sky overhead. A rainbow for all races and walks of life.
We send greetings of solidarity to all our sisters and brothers in Prague and across the planet. THE PEOPLE UNITED WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED!
HUNDREDS OF CONNECTICUT ACTIVISTS FLOOD THE STREETS OF DOWNTOWN HARTFORD TO SUPPORT "S26" GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION VS. IMF, WORLD BANK Hundreds of Connecticut activists joined forces today for a mass march and rally in Hartford to demonstrate U.S. support for the Global Day of Action in Prague, Czech Republic, against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. "S26" will also mark support for the Connecticut Justice for Janitors campaign. Citizens converged at Bushnell Park, at 2 p.m. and marched through the streets of downtown Hartford tying up traffic for hours This un-permitted mass march was one of hundreds to be held in major cities all over the world, focusing unprecedented attention on the disastrous effects of IMF and World Bank policies. Activists will show their solidarity with the tens of thousands of demonstrators who gathered in Prague and throughout the world to demonstrate and engage in civil disobedience against the IMF and World Bank meetings on that day. . "These institutions have devastated the environment and destroyed communities around the world and driven poor Americans deeper into poverty, noted "Kristin Perreault, a member of CGAN's S26 Working Group, at the SEIU rally in front of the Federal Building on Main Street. At the same time, she noted, "people are awakening to the possibility and necessity of global solidarity against the ravaging effects of unbridled corporate power. At home as abroad, a burgeoning movement is giving new meaning to the slogan, 'Think globally, act locally.'" The Hartford event, coordinated by the Connecticut Global Action Network, included direct action, civil disobedience, and dramatic street theater. Richard Beobel, a long time union janitor. "On the 26th, we, the janitors of SEIU Local 531, in solidarity with the Connecticut Global Action Network, as well as thousands of protestors around the world, are marching against all forms of corporate greed, from United Technologies here in Hartford to the policies of the World Bank and IMF."
LA S26 Solidarity Rally & March Small But Spirited, Makes Local Connections
by Paul H. Rosenberg 11:50am Wed Sep 27 '00
rad@gte.net
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Local Demonstration Is One Of Dozens Worldwide In Solidarity with Prague Protests Against the IMF/WORLD BANK Meeting.
Speakers from local labor unions, the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladores, the Fair Trade Network, the No On Prop. 38 Campaign and other local organizations focused attention on local, state and regional impacts of and connections with corporate globalization, addressing a rally of 150-200 people. Particular attention was focused on the dangerous, low-paid working conditions of Maquiladora workers and LA sweatshop workers as the true face of globalization.
A musical interlude from the trio The Raging Grannies included the following song:
Sweatshop Workers (to the tune of "Chiquita Bannan")
We are the sweatshop workers And we're here to say There's been an awful "GAP" In what we get for pay!
And SEAR is just as bad They don't pay what they owe The legislation passed Where did the money go?
You can pay us in the morning You can pay us in the night! But you Damn wll better pay us Or we're Damn well gonna fight!!!
Attention was also focused on renewed attacks on public education, culminating in the voucher initiative, Prop. 38, sponsored by billlionaire Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper, that would drain roughly $2.6 billion from California's public schools and give it to private schools, underwiting the private education of mostly rich and upper-middle-class students. While the cash-rich Draper Initiative is saturating the airwaves with TV ads, student organizers for No On Prop. 38 urged people to volunteer at phone banks to contact voters. (Local phone bank locations can be found at the No On Prop. 38 website at http://www.novouchers2000action.com/phone.asp#losangelesarea.)
Mark Rich, from UTLA (United Teachers of Los Angeles) and L2K (Labor 2000) highlighted a key underlying aspect of this attack: the redirection of blame for the ills of society onto the public schools. At the East LA school where he teaches, 98% of the students participate in the free breakfast and lunch programs. Where students enjoy a public education free from outside disadvantages, the results are remarkable. In America, 25% of all students go to college--compared to 14% in Japan. Japanese-American students outscore Japanese students on international tests, just as Korean-American students outscore Korean students in international tests.
At 4:30, the rally launched into a spirited 45 minute march through downtown LA, passing by late afternoon crowds of onlookers, whose reactions appeared to range between apathy, confusion and support. Unfortunatlely, this reporter only saw one demonstrator with the presence of mind and leaflets to go out into the crowds and make direct contact people--an opportunity that shouldn't be missed in future actions.
After returning to Pershing Square, the rally continued with a number of other speaches, and a tour-de-farce performance by the Billionaire for Bush Or Gore in a special incarnation as Billionaires For Greater Goobal Inequity. Backed up by a brass band (a suspiciously down-scale metal), the Billionaires regaled the crowd with numbers like "Piece of the Forest" (tune of "Piece of My Heart"), their themesong, "Billionaires for Bush and Gore" (tune of "The Caissons Go Rolling Along.") and "Maquiladora" (tune of "Macarena.") The latter was accompanied by its own special dance, including gestures of money-grubbing and self-strangulation, which the Billionaires lead the crowd in performing (sample verse):
We're so happy when they passed NAFTA
We moved all our factories just across the borda
We used to pay good wages, now we don't have ta Maquiladora!
www.labridge.com/change-links/s26/reason...
Some hundred people rallied in the center of Yale University on S26 to protest various destructive policies of the university seen to parallel the activities of the IMF and the World Bank: including the uncritical investment decisions for Yale's $10 billion endowment which features such companies as Exxon-Mobil, BP Amoco, Philip Morris, UNOCAL, and so on; the failure of the university administration to change its licensing policy to take any sort of effective action against sweatshop abuses or support the struggles of local workers; the univeristy's ties to financial monster Citigroup (which underwrites 80% of World Bank projects); and so on.
The rally was timed to precede the actions in nearby Hartford.
Palm Beach County County, Florida Anarchists drop Banner in Solidarity with Protests in Prague At 7:00 a.m., this morning, on northbound I-95 between Lantana and 6th Ave South on the walking bridge, a large banner reading, "Globalize Resistance to Corporate Power; Shut Down the World Bank," urged uncompromising solidarity with those struggling around the world against the plunder of resources in communities by profiteering companies and unaccountable politicians who often align themselves with big business. Today the World Bank/ International Monetary Fund (IMF) will attempt to meet in Prague. These two global institutions of capital have recently been under public scrutiny, exposing their agenda of imposed economic development on poor countries. This has resulted in wider gaps between affluent and impoverished peoples, in turn creating groundwork for civil wars, ecological catastrophe, and slave labor conditions in producing goods for "first-world'" nations. But so-called "developed'" countries such as the United States do not escape these results of the new global economy, For America, it means loss of union jobs, lower standards for labor and environmental protection, and essentially the same Structural Adjustments that we are seeing in poor communities internationally.
6 arrested during Portland protest The march is against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Wednesday, September 27, 2000 By Katie Pesznecker and Maxine Bernstein of The Oregonian staff Portland police arrested at least six people early Tuesday evening after a protest of this week's International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in the Czech Republic spilled into the streets of downtown Portland. About 80 demonstrators marched through downtown Portland during rush hour in solidarity with protests in the Czech Republic against the annual meetings. The protest closed a section of Broadway, between Southwest Morrison and Yamhill streets near Pioneer Courthouse Square, and blocked eastbound MAX service on Yamhill Street. Protesters threw eggs at officers on horses. Police responded with pepper spray and tried to surround the group. At least one officer was assaulted, said Lt. Mike Hefley, a spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau. A 17-year-old girl was injured when a police horse stepped on her foot about 5:30 p.m. The protest began at the Robert Duncan Building at Southwest Second Avenue and Oak Street, Hefley said, and moved to Pioneer Courthouse Square. At least one billboard at the Robert Duncan Building was vandalized with anarchist symbols, Hefley said. One protester was said to be affiliated with an anarchist group, Hefley said. Portland Police Chief Mark Kroeker observed the protest from his vehicle near Southwest Morrison Street. Several people yelled at Kroeker through the window, including Abigail Harrington, 18, from Vancouver, Wash., with complaints about police. "You work for the people! You work for the people," she told Kroeker. Later, she said, "We're not being violent. We don't have a single weapon. I came here to support this protest in solidarity with the IMF protest in Prague." She said Portland police were acting belligerent. Mark Larabee of The Oregonian staff and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Protesters block downtown rush-hour traffic Police arrest at least 20 at a demonstration against world monetary meetings in the Czech Republic Wednesday, September 27, 2000 By Maxine Bernstein Mark Larabee and Katie Pesznecker of The Oregonian staff Portland police arrested at least 20 people Tuesday evening after a local protest of this week's International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in the Czech Republic spilled into downtown streets, disrupting traffic and mass transit. Between 150 and 200 demonstrators gathered near Pioneer Courthouse Square during rush hour in solidarity with protests in the Czech Republic against the annual meetings. The protest began about 3:30 p.m. with a group of about 50 to 70 people gathering at Skidmore Fountain at Southwest First Avenue and Ankeny Street and it moved to Pioneer Courthouse Square about 5:30 p.m., police said. The protest continued until about 8:40 p.m., with the rowdy crowd making a final surge, winding through downtown streets to Portland State University before dispersing. Their numbers swelled as they marched through traffic, blocked motorists, jumped on parked cars and knocked down garbage cans. Police followed the protesters but did not engage them. At its peak, the protest closed Broadway between Southwest Alder and Yamhill streets for more than an hour. It blocked eastbound MAX on Yamhill Street from 5 to 8:45 p.m. Bus service on Sixth Avenue also was briefly detoured as five officers on horseback, flanked by at least 50 to 60 police officers carrying batons and wearing riot helmets, pushed the crowd east, away from Broadway. At times, protesters threw eggs, water bottles, a spark plug and other objects at officers, and many loudly cursed police as the officers pushed protesters onto the sidewalks. A 17-year-old girl was injured when a police horse stepped on her foot, and another woman was taken to a city hospital with a head injury, police said. Police Chief Mark Kroeker was at the scene, initially in an unmarked, black sport-utility vehicle. He said he realized the sensitivity of such an operation given his department's recent history with protesters at a May Day clash, May 1. The department was criticized for escalating tension by its large presence and aggressive tactics. The chief said the police bureau did not properly anticipate the size of the May Day crowd and inadequately responded as 100 officers and 300 rioters clashed. On Tuesday, the chief said police had a duty to restore order to a situation — the untimely closure of city streets during the evening commute — and that the use of force, while unfortunate, was necessary. Roughly 100 officers were deployed Tuesday. The mounted officers directed their horses into the crowd at times to get people moving. They also sprayed liquid pepper in the faces of protesters, many of them teen-agers. Patrick Johnston, 19, sat in front of the Nordstrom department store, red-faced and splashing his swollen eyes with water. "I'm here to support my friends," he said. Some protesters were banging on water jugs and drums, dancing in front of a stoic police line. They chanted "Start a revolution!" and "Whose streets? Our streets!" Others scrawled "pigs" on police cars with cigarette butts. Police said that at least four police cars were damaged, including having mirrors ripped off. Bill Bradley, 31, came to support a rally at the square sponsored by the Teamsters Local 206. He said many of the younger protesters belonged to an anarchists collective called Reclaim the Streets. While Bradley said he wasn't "a big fan" of the group's tactics, he said he understood their anger. "It's hard. In order to get something positive done, we have to block streets," Bradley said. Bystander Joseph Payne, who was downtown to attend a parenting class, said, "The violence is stupid, the bottle thing, the egg thing. I understand there's freedom of speech, but there's better ways to make a point." One man walked up to Kroeker and praised him, saying, "Good job, chief. " Yet several people yelled at him through the window of his car, including Abigail Harrington, 18, from Vancouver, Wash., who came to support the IMF protest in Prague. "You work for the people! You work for the people!" she screamed at Kroeker. Later, she accused Portland police of acting belligerently. "We're not being violent. We don't have a single weapon." Kroeker defended what many in the crowd called aggressive tactics by mounted officers. "It's a crowd-management technique," Kroeker said. "Any deployment of force, if met with resistance, people can get displaced or knocked down. We don't want that to happen." Regarding police reaction to the protest, he said, "As you look at these situations, there's always room for improvement. We'll sort that out as we go." Kroeker said police received information early Tuesday that there would be several demonstrations throughout the day. A permit was granted for the rally in Pioneer Courthouse Square, but no one sought a permit to protest or close city streets. By the end of the protest, marchers celebrated outside PSU's Smith Memorial Center and congratulated one another. "All of you should be proud of yourselves," said Mica Devin, 19. "We don't stand for oppression. We don't stand to be put down by anyone." — --------------------------------------------------- Dan Clore
S26 in Providence, CA reportback
Providence, RI to Prague, CR (english)
by chas 7:00pm Tue Sep 26 '00
Charles_Walker@Brown.edu
Solidarity action in Providence!
Over 200 RI Jobs with Justice coalition activists from labor, community, religious and student groups turned out in a chilly afternoon rain to show their solidarity with the World Bank and IMF protestors in Prague and to show that corporate globalization has very harmful effects on local communities.
The action was focused on two pertinent issues in the Ocean State: jobs that pay living wages and workers' right to organize unions. The event began in City Hall, with speakers showing their support for the Providence Jobs and Living Wages Ordinance, a proposed piece of legislation which would require that companies receiving city taxpayer money or tax subsidies pay family-supporting wages and respect workers' right to organize, among other important clauses.
Representatives and hotel workers from HERE Local 217 spoke about the target of the action, Paolino Properties, a major downtown developer. The union has met with the company and attempted to get a card-count neutrality agreement for a new hotel which Paolino has asked the city for for millions of dollars in tax subsidies in order to help construct. Such an agreement would to prohibit the company from deterring workers' efforts to organize. Mr. Paolino has refused to negotiate or to sit for further meetings with the union about such an agreement until after he receives the city approval for the project.
This is far too late, the union contends, since the public can bring little pressure to bear once the city has given away their tax dollars. The event's organizers, RI Jobs with Justice, decided he was a perfect target for the S26 action, since surprising him in his office and embarrassing him publicly would force him to the bargaining table.
Bearings signs that read such things as "THE THIRD WORLD IS OUR WORLD", "LIVING WAGE YES", and "GLOBALIZE THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE", most of the crowd entered the office building. A few more, most of whom were controlling two huge puppets (a hotel and a greedy caricature of Paolino with dollar bills spilling out of his pockets and mouth), remained outside, singing the labor classic "Solidarity Forever". Several more daring activists hung a banner from the rooftop of the office building that read "We'll shut it down" and displayed a picture of the Providence skyline.
Inside, after several members of Paolino Properties' staff shoved the peaceful activists and threatened to break media photographers' cameras, CEO and former mayor of Providence Joe Paolino offered to talk outside. Back again on the street, the crowd circled around him and urged him to choose whether or not he would sign a neutrality agreement. "YES OR NO?" they chanted, and then became silent to allow him and a delegation representing the group to talk.
Paolino hemmed and hawed, attempting to quiet the protestors and discredit their tactics and choice of him as a target. "Why are you picking on me?" he asked, citing examples of other hotel developers in the region who also have not agreed to neutrality agreements.
"Because you can be a leader," said one member of the delegation, urging him to sign the neutrality pledge.
"Why not?" said another, "you pick on workers all the time."
"It's too premature to talk about workers' rights," he said.
"Then it's too premature for you to ask for tax breaks, because that's our money!" a protestor retorted.
After almost half an hour of back and forth banter and several speeches from the action's organizers, Paolino refused to sign a pledge for a card count neutrality agreements and retreated back into his office. Protestors left Jobs with Justice placards outside his door left the notorious union-buster with a promise:
"WE'LL BE BACK!"
S26 in San Francisco, CA reportback
On S26 in San Francisco around 300 people gathered together in front of Citigroup offices just as the streets filled with people leaving their offices.
People representing both local and global facets of the struggle against corporate greed joined together in solidarity with each other and with the protestors in Prague. We connected the dots between the local Bay Area eviction crisis and the global wholesale displacement of peoples from their homes all around the world. The corporate puppet Mayor of SF Willie Brown was present, as were puppets of Citigroup and IMF/WB. Eviction notices were served on all three for crimes against humanity and ecology.
Citigroup profits bigtime off the suffering caused by IMF/WB resettlement policies abroad, while here at home Citibank refuses to offer home loans to communities of color. And global capital slips into the pockets of local government officials and in turn government rubberstamps community-destroying dot-com development projects left and right.
Justice for all, from Citibank to City Hall!
An inspired Shitigroup float rolled into view - Investment Bankers sitting on Toilets with their pants around their ankles shitting into toilet bowls painted to look like the Earth while they read the Wall Street Journal and discussed their globalization movement. Great big bellylaughs all around!
And the momentum didn't stop there - at 6:00 pm the rally ended and everyone jumped on BART trains to join up with Reclaim the Streets in Berkeley. It was sweet timing...
Global slumlords - your eviction has begun!
Banish corporate rule!
Conjure Justice!
Tucson protest includes tear gas, arrest
by Rachel Wilson 11:51pm Tue Sep 26 '00
phone: (520) 792-0761 rwilson@u.arizona.edu
Arizonans protest at the National Law Center, which represents the US in trade negotiations involving NAFTA.
Approximately 75 people gathered outside the National Law Center (Congress and Stone, in the BankOne building) at 4:30 today to protest in solidarity with the anti-IMF and World Bank demos in Prague. In keeping with the call to localize the anti-globalization actions, the National Law Center was the perfect location since that office represents the US in trade negotiations involving the implementation of NAFTA (among other trade agreements).
Early in the protest, a small group of demonstrators attempted to gain entrance to the BankOne building in order to talk to employees of the National Law Center. For a time, they were prevented from entering by security guards (the BankOne building is a "private" building, even though it houses a "public" office).
At some point several protesters gained entrance to the building, but were then confronted by police. A small chase ensued, with Tucsonan Daniel Patterson ending up in a headlock and pushed to the ground. As the police were attempting to handcuff Patterson, a crowd surrounded both Patterson and the police in order to prevent Patterson's removal. At that point, police yelled "Stand back!" Protesters refused to move and were pepper sprayed. Approximately 10 people were hit, with 4 or 5 people receiving serious sprays to the face and eyes. Other protesters quickly stepped in to flush the eyes of the sprayed.
Patterson was carted off to jail. As this was taking place, approximately seven more police cars joined the three already present. Officers emerged from the cars with rifles. An ambulance also arrived to assist those who had been sprayed. Protesters chanted "We're non-violent, how 'bout you?" The officers simply stood with their rifles.
After remaining at the scene for another half-hour to forty-five minutes, all ten police cars left. The protesters remained a little while longer.
Currently, nothing is known about Daniel Patterson's arrest (for example, what was he charged with?)or his current status. Observers noted that his arrest and the ensuing use of pepper spray seemed completely unwarranted. Many believe that a lawsuit will eventually be filed through the People's Law Center.
400 Turn Out in Washington, DC for S26 Solidarity Action
9-26-2000 by Chuck0
Around 400 people, most of them union members and activists who were involved in last Spring's protests of the World Bank/IMF, braved the early morning drizzle to rally in support of local parking lot attendents who are trying to unionize. The boisterous picket stretched an entire city block in downtown D.C., on L St. NW, between 19th and 20th. At one point, around 35 activists ran into the street and sat down to form a line of bodies that blocked the street. The police shut down L St. during the height of rush hour traffic. The 35 were eventually arrested and transported away. The action ended in a brief rally a short time later.
September 19
STUDENTS IN WASHINGTON, DC PROTEST WORLD BANK INVOLVEMENT IN CHAD-CAMEROON PIPELINE
Sierra Student Coalition Decries Corporate Welfare at Expense of People and Environment
Despite the cold and rain, several dozen students and other activists marched in front of the World Bank's Headquarters demanding an end to corporate welfare and the support of socially and environmentally destructive industrial projects. Specifically citing the Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline, which the World Bank has promised to support with several hundred million dollars (US), as an example of what is wrong with the global lending institution, activists called for investment in communities and sustainable development, not fossil fuels.
The Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline, which will be operated by ExxonMobil and Chevron, will destroy rainforest and pollute major rivers, and is expected to result in human rights abuses and the destruction of indigenous cultures.
The World Bank sees the project as a way to reduce poverty, but it is unlikely money generated by the oil project will reach the people, given that the government of Chad is a military dictatorship and the government of Cameroon was rated as the most corrupt in the world in 1999 by Transparency International.