Protest  12/21-01 IMC/post  UN DIA QUE QUEDARA EN LA HISTORIA    El dМa que tiramos un presidente  

Conflict  11/16-01  GREEN PARTY WASHINGTON, D.C.  END STRIKES AGAINST AFGHANISTAN  The Green Party of the United States has renewed its call for the U.S. to halt the military assaults on Afghanistan, as the war threatens to spread and Afghans face starvation in the coming months. "Continuing the strikes through Ramadan will further alienate Muslims and jeopardize fragile alliances with Pakistan and other Muslim nations," said Tom Sevigny, Connecticut Green activist of the national party's steering committee. Pakistan's President, General Pervez Musharraf, warns that the U.S. assaults are "perceived in the whole world as a war against the poor, miserable and innocent people of Afghanistan" and that continuing attacks during Ramadan would have "negative fall-out in the entire Muslim world." The war on Afghanistan puts the military junta in Pakistan in an explosive dilemma. Already on shaky ground, the undemocratic Pakistani government faces destabilization, with dire consequences if Pakistan's small nuclear arsenal falls into the wrong hands.

The military strikes have already proved devastating for the people of Afghanistan, especially the use of cluster bombs, fuel air bombs, and carpet bombing by the U.S. as the Taliban dispersed into civilian areas. "The only hope for Afghanistan is massive intervention from the U.N.," said Holly Hart,
secretary of the Iowa Green Party and co-chair of the national platform committee. "Such an effort
must provide emergency food and medical supplies, attempt to prevent further bloodshed in the civil
war between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance, and address the brutal treatment of Afghan people -- especially women -- by both the Taliban and the Northern Alliance ........."  http://gpus.org

Protest  11/11-01 IMC/UK post  WTO Protest  New Delhi, India: 50,000 people participated in a massive rally in India's capital city to t the World Trade Organization on November 6th. The rally titled, "Indian People’s Campaign Against the WTO" called for a sustained movement to stop the government from surrendering India’s economic sovereignty and destroying the Indian economy and people’s livelihoods. All over the world, protest demonstrations are taking place against the World Trade Organization meeting in Doha, Qatar in order to use grassroots, external pressure to support dissent by Southern nations within the WTO. Protests have either taken place or are planned in Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, South Korea, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, UK and the United States. The right-wing led Italian government has made a desperate attempt to undermine 70,000 protestors made up of a coalition of united anti-WTO and war groups by providing transport for 50,000 people to march in favour of the US led war against Afghanistan in Rome today. International reports: Doha | Argentina | Barcelona | Frankfurt | Bolivia | India | Slovenia | Netherlands | Melbourne | South Africa ¦ Sao Paulo ¦ Palo Alto (California) | Bankok | Washington DC | Iran | Indonesia | Christchurch NZ | Turkey/Thailand | Ontario CA | Montreal ¦ New York | Italy | Berlin | Geneva

Protest  11/07-01 IMC/NYC post NYC Joins Global Day of Protest as WTO meets in Qatar 
The WTO is gearing up for its first ministerial conference since Seattle. Meanwhile, protesters in 36 countries around the world will be gathering for a global day of resistance on November 9, in NYC, activists will also be holding strategy sessions November 8-10, to discuss challenging corporate power on multiple fronts, from revoking corporate charters to reparations to creating sustainable agriculture. No New Round Radio will make sure all these voices are carried on the web. While transnational corporations and leading governments pursue an ambitious new round of trade liberalization, some say that it is more urgent than ever for the anti-globalization movement to raise its voice in the streets.

Protest  11/05-01 IMC/NYC post  Clash between NYC police and firefighters  The leaders of two local firefighter's unions have been arrested in the aftermath of Friday's Ground Zero clash between NYC police and firefighters. A thousand off-duty firefighters were protesting Mayor Rudy Giuliani's decision to scale back search and recovery efforts even though thousands of bodies, including those of more than 200 firefighters, are still missing. Like many protesters before them, the firefighters claim that they were provoked and attacked by the NYPD. Captain Peter L. Gorman, head of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, denounced Giuliani as a "fascist" after surrendering himself at a Manhattan police station.

Conflict  10/20-01  Commandos Attack Taliban  US commandos strike southern Afghanistan in an overnight raid providing the first confirmation that the war against Osama bin Laden is entering a new phase. In the raid, US special forces, attacked Taliban targets near Kandahar. Pentagon said casualties included a US helicopter that crashed, near the Afghan Pakistan border, killing two US servicemen. The Independent has also learnt that American troops have teamed up with a leading anti-Taliban warlord in the West as part of the effort to drive the Taliban out of the northern strategic city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Speaking from his field headquarters, 60 miles from Mazar-i-Sharif, Abdul Rashid Dostum, a senior commander, said he was in discussion with US military personnel at Dara-i-Suf, 60 miles south of Mazar. "They are talking to me about what assistance they can provide us." General Dostum said a fierce battle was under way for Mazar, a fortress city on the strategic route between the Northern Alliance's supply bases in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and the Afghan capital, Kabul.  Sources - Pentagon Briefing & Independent Digital www.independent.co.uk/

Protest  10/15-01 IMC/UK post    London Peace Demonstrations Tens of thousands of people, from all corners of Britain, gathered in London on Sat 13 October to protest the war on 'terrorism' and Afghanistan. Demonstrators marched from Hyde Park to a rally in Trafalgar Square, organized by CND. The diversity of individuals and groups involved - peace groups, women's rights campaigners, Palestinian groups, pensioners, kids, Wombles, Muslims, Quakers and many more - was best described by one demonstrator: "We're not part of any group, we're just...people."

  Conflict  10/7-01 IMC post    U.S. & Britain Missile Attacks on Afghanistan  On Sunday, October 7, the U.S. and Britain began bombing Afghanistan. Official military claims are that only " strategic targets" such as "command and control facilities" were targeted. In addition to Kabul and Kandahar, a total of 31 sites including Afghan cities such as Jalalabad, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif were also attacked. U.S. President Bush says that in addition to the bombs, the U.S. will be dropping food and supplies. "The United States of America," says Bush, "is a friend to the Afghan people." According to Amnesty International, several hundred thousand of those people have already fled their homes to avoid the impending bombing. Desperate refugees are expected to try crossing the Iranian and Pakistani borders, which were apparently closed in response to U.S. & British diplomatic pressure.

Media  9/29-01 IMC/DC post  SATELLITE UPLINK AVAILABLE FROM DC ANTI-WAR RALLY  Good News for the Disenfranchised. Direct Satellite TV from antiwar protesters in DC Saturday/Sunday S29/30 can be seen from 12PM to 6PM EST. Media Whiteout of anti-war sentiment about to be broken. This free satellite hookup is being provided by Access Productions of Ann Arbor Michigan, www.AccessUS.com who has agreed to allow the international Action Center, the group with the permit, to control the broadcast. Downloads will be free and non-copyrighted. Saturday the transponder will be SBS6 #7, frequency 11872 - Sunday the transponder will be SBS6 #5, frequency 11823. Please inform your public access cable provider to download it!

WebRadio Tune-In NOW! English, Low-Fi MP3 English, Low-Fi MP3 English, Hi-Fi MP3  Spanish, MP3

Protest  9/27-01 Washington, DC  Events for DC  People are coming to town! Some have begun showing up to take part in the marches and teach-ins planned for this week. Activists in Washington DC have vowed to continue with their planned forums and marches -- adjusted to the new situation with new determination to proceed. Marches for peace and/or against capitalism are Sept. 29 and Sept. 30, called by a variety of groups. In the coming week, there is a great deal of activity planned. Join Us!  

Peace Events in DC on the 29-30     September 29th Anti-Capitalist Convergence Anti-War March      September 29th  International Days of Action Against War and Racism      September 30th  Washington Peace Center and AFSC Peace March 

Protest  9/17-01 Washington, DC  Mobilization for Global Justice Cancels its Call for Street Demonstrations Against World Bank/IMF at End of September  Participants of the Mobilization for Global Justice (MGJ) are shocked and deeply saddened by last week's terrorist attacks. We express our deepest sympathies for the victims of this tragedy, their families, friends and communities. We unequivocally condemn these horrific attacks, and we call for an immediate end to the cycle of violence. We urge all leaders to seek justice in this situation rather than revenge. In this time of grief, the MGJ is postponing the nonviolent demonstrations against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) our coalition was planning to host later this month. We choose this course of action regardless of the plans of the World Bank and IMF, and we respect other organizations that choose a different path.

Disaster  9/11-01/IMC   World Trade Center Collapses  -  Explosive Attacks in NYC and Washington, DC    All U.S. flights have been grounded and New York City has been sealed off because both World Trade Center towers have been destroyed by airplane attacks. The U.S. Pentagon is on fire and the White House/Capital buildings are being evacuated. NYC reports are sketchy because TV transmitters were atop the twin towers that are no longer there. Christopher Mitchell from twincities independent media reports: This morning, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the planes have done considerable damage to the upper floors of each tower. The weather in NYC this morning was quite clear and both planes apparently approached the towers slowly, it is highly unlikely that this was an accident or coincidence.  Visiting Sarasota, Florida President Bush called the World Trade Center attack ``a national tragedy and an apparent act of terrorism against our country".  Casualties have not been calculated but this disaster seems to have gone beyond anything that America could have imagined.

Protest  9/10-01 IMC/DC post GLOBALIZE THIS!  President of GWU working with Police to restrict Students Rights  The administration at George Washington University has decided to close its campus and cancel classes at the end of September when the International Monetary Fund and World Bank hold their meetings. Administration President Stephen Trachtenberg has agreed to a police request to shut down the university, evict all students and use the campus as a support center for police agencies. However, students have called for a strike in opposition to the plan. The real question is how does all this this interact with the Mobilization planned for DC at the end of this month.

Protest  8/15-01 IMC/DC post    Lawsuit to be filed against massive police buildup  Organizations that plan to peacfully protest the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in D.C. at the end of September are filing a major lawsuit against D.C. police. Authorities have announced their intention to close sections of downtown from Sept. 29-30, erect barricades on streets and heavily arm their officers.

"The Washington, D.C. police and other authorities, after spending weeks demonizing demonstrators in the mass media, have now announced that they are closing off vast sections of Washington D.C. on September 29 and 30 with six-foot-high fencing and 'jersey barriers', and deploying thousands of heavily-armed police," said Mara Verheyden Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil Justice, which represents protest groups. "This zone will be used to try to insulate the IMF/World Bank delegates from the voices of dissent." The protest organizers are asserting that police have no right to turn large areas of the Capital into the private property of the IMF and World Bank. D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams has already asked Congress for up to $50 million to pay for weapons and security.

Award  Best News Photos Genoa 2001  top posted by elf99/ IMC post - botttom posted by CMAQ/IMC-France

Protest  7/22-01 IMC post    100,000 Face G8 in Genoa

In late July,  an estimated 200,000 people were in the streets of Genoa, Italy, to express dissent against the closed meetings of the Group of 8. The 'G8' - the leaders of the world's most economically powerful countries, meets yearly to discuss general international policy direction. Demonstrators from all over Europe have converged on Genoa to present alternative visions of the way the world's population could organize to undo poverty, inequality and environmental disintegration. Demonstrations, attended by members of literally thousands of diverse European and international social justice organizations, featured a mass action of organized civil disobedience headed by the Italian Ya Basta! movement, attempting to break through the sealed off 'Red Zone' security barriers dividing the militarized town of Genoa. Italian police met the demonstrations with violence, resulting in serious injuries from both street clashes and raids on sleeping protesters. There has been one confirmed death in Genoa of a young Genovese man, Carlo Giuliani. The man was shot by Italian police and then run over by a police vehicle. IMC-Italy has a picture sequence of Carlo Giuliani at the time of his death. At least two other men received serious facial injuries from the 40mm tear gas canisters being shot at them. Debates about Black Bloc tactics and other issues raised in Genoa rage on many Indymedia newswires.

Protest  6/22-01 IMC/Sweden post    EU Summit Protests Wrap-Up

Corporate globalists in Sweden met by 25,000 protesters; protesters met by police gunfire:  Riots shut down the city of Gothenburg as European Union leaders met to impose a neo-liberal agenda. Police attacked a peaceful demonstration of thousands trying to take their message of "People before profit" to the summit. The protests in Gothenburg have exceeded all expectations. Sky News say that 25,000 people protested against the EU conference. Television reports have shown running battles between the police and protesters. The police violence was met by resistance as protesters chanted "The whole world is watching". The police have the city in a state of siege. while denying them their civil liberties and democratic right to protest. Finally the police shot and wounded three.  Gothenburg is a divided city.

Environment 6/6-01 IMC post    Treesitters Attacked by Lumber Company  Treesitters in the Mattole Forest in California, USA, were attacked again on Saturday morning by Lewis Logging employees who scaled Douglas Fir trees and assaulted the non-violent activists. The Lewis Logging employees climbed the trees that the activists were occupying, cut out all their gear, and left one woman dangling with her arms clipped into a lockbox.

Testimonial  5/15-01 CMAQ post  Quebec Protestor 'shaken to the roots of [her] being'  Greetings,  To those of you with whom I haven’t communicated more personally over the past while, I apologize. Sadly, this letter is not going to fill you in on the general course of my family's life. Perhaps that will come later. (Everyone's fine, by the way, at least physically). I initially wrote this letter last Thursday (April 26), following 3 days of intense emotional upheaval. Now, a week later, I’m a little calmer, and more optimistic. I’ve edited the letter (essay?) several times since it was first drafted, but essentially, these are my reactions to what happened to me and thousands of other people last week. By sharing it with you I’m hoping to help shatter a few myths, and to help myself regain my voice.  Lorraine Emmrys  2001-05-05  complete story
Protest  4/21-01 IMC post  A BREACH IN THE WALL  

BOULEVARD RENE-LEVESQUE   One of the first confrontations between police and protestors took place on the Boulevard Rene-Levesque around 3 p.m. near the Grand Theatre. As a crowd of spectators, some of them with small children, lined the perimeter of the fence along the sidewalk, a group of black-masked black bloc activists pulled large sections of the concrete and wire mesh construct down and advanced toward about a dozen officers in olive riot gear.    The action was the culmination of a parade that began at Universite de Laval around 1 p.m. and proceeded peacefully, if noisily, all the way into downtown. More passive groups peeled off along other streets prior to hitting the fence, leaving only "red" and "yellow" groups to stand off at the perimeter. ("Red" groups advocate direct confrontation; "yellow" groups resist passively, but a contingent of them had pledged to support any red groups who broke through the fence.)

For about 10 minutes, the activists contented themselves with shouting slogans ("Whose streets? Our streets!") and throwing plastic bottles and golf balls. The police deflected those with plastic shields and stood their ground. Soon, other squads of police arrived to provide back-up. Then came a molotov cocktail, which smashed and burned harmlessly on the concrete. And then a crowd started pulling on one section of the fence. (It wasn't clear how many of those behind the fence were involved and how many were providing moral support by yelling and cheering.) It took only about three minutes of rocking to pull it over, and a small group of anarchists scrambled through the opening, pushing a metal street barrier before them.

Things escalated quickly: a group of police rushed at the protestors pushing them back; other groups began pulling down other sections of fence; a few more molotov cocktails landed, and one officer's pant leg caught fire (it was quickly extinguished by other officers); with the entire fence across the boulevard down, groups of protestors began moving in several directions, spreading out along side streets. Finally, a third squad of officers appeared, with several carrying tear-gas guns. As the first riot squad fell back from the protestors, the new arrivals fired gas canisters into the throng. The crowd of spectators, which had been moving back and forth nervously, dispersed with a few parents reaching down to cover their children's mouths with kerchiefs and shirt sleeves. As of 4:30, there are still reports of gas along Rene-Levesque.

Protest  4/09-01 IMC post    Buenos Aires Ministerial Summit Faces Massive Demonstrations  Last week more than 10,000 people assembled in the streets of Buenos Aires to march from the National Congress building to the Sheraton hotel where the 6th Business Forum of the Americas is being held and the interest of international capital will be presented to the FTAA/ALCA negotiations. Over 10,000 mobilized and took action - diverse unions, farmers, student and parties of the left had converged without any hindrance at the fence surrounding the hotel. Here where the diverse columns of people met, the police began their repression, armed with tear gas, rubber bullets and water canons. The demonstrators were pursued and divided by the streets of the city, while the mounted police, assault cars and riot squads waited for opportunities to attack the protesters. Currently the numbers of arrests are unknown. Compañeros from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile and elsewhere took diverse actions and were united in declaring "NO to ALCA/FTAA". As trade and finance ministers from 34 American governments gathered in Buenos Aires to finalize the text of the FTAA, activists prepared to confront them with demonstrations. Updates will follow in the Argentina Indymedia newswire

Protest  4/03-01 IMC post  Activists demand to see the text for FTAA   In Canada and the US activists demanded that the full text of the FTAA Free Trade of the Americas Agreement be released. In Ottawa on April 2nd, SalAMI and a coalition of activist groups attempted a search and rescue operation to retrieve the trade texts, which are not available to the public, at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). Over 80 activists were arrested in Ottawa durring the protests which unfortunately did not result in a sucessful liberation of the text. In San Francisco, activists shutdown the pacific stock exchange to deman release of the full ftaa text.On April 6th in Buenos Aires protesters will confront the meeting of finance ministers in a lead up to the big ftaa meeting in quebec city on april 20th. Check out argentina.indymedia.org for more coverage of that action.

Media  3/21-01  "INDYMEDIA  NEWSREAL" PILOT TO PREMIERE NATIONWIDE  Seattle style street-level news coverage to go full time   INDYMEDIA, a pilot for an ongoing progressive television series, will receive its national broadcast premiere APRIL 5, 2001, 8 PM ET, on Free Speech TV (DISH Network Channel 9415), and can be seen locally at add local screening venue, time and date. INDYMEDIA will cover actions taken in local communities, by ordinary people, to address critical issues like air and water pollution, reproductive rights, homelessness, for-profit prisons, sweatshops, racism, police brutality, indigenous struggles, and more. INDYMEDIA is brought to you by the same independents trained under the duress of riot police, tear gas and rubber bullets at anti-corporate globalization protests in Seattle, DC, Philly, LA and more. This new breed of digital camcorder producers plan to bring revolutionary Independent Media Center (IMC) production back home to communities across the US and around the world. IMCs, event-based news rooms for grassroots radio, photo, print, and video production, have provided breaking coverage at massive public protests over the past year. http://satellite.indymedia.org

Protest  3/03-01 IMC post  ITALIA: ECO-PROTESTERS CONFRONT G8     G8 Environment Ministers Meet Amid Protests in Triste, Italy  Protests surround the G8 Environment ministers in their first meeting since the US scuttled COP 6 in The Hauge last November. 10,000 activists took to the streets demanding real substantive measures be taken to curb global climate change before it's too late. They were met by over 3,000 police who blocked many streets to protect the elite gathering. The protesters demands for a proactive global environmental policy included rejection of polution quotas and radical change in the multinational financial institutions and corporations which have become the dominate power brokers in the era of globalization. IMC Italia partner Radio Fragola in Triste has coverage of the protests. There is also coverage from vaikuttava tietotoimisto (IMC Finland).
Protest  3/01-01 IMC post  CANCUN: WEF MEET AMID DEMONSTRATIONS  World Economic Forum Under Fire Again  The World Economic Fourm was met by demonstrations once again, this time in Cancun. From the S11 protests in Austrialia to the ski-town of Davos and now in Cancun, everywhere that the WEF tries to meet, they encounter intense protest.  Buses carrying the protesters to Cancun were stopped at a checkpoint. Some passengers were held for five hours and had their belongings thoroughly searched. The police stopped one of the buses that was traveling alone and confiscated everything on board: banners, paints, and masks for the artistic carnival; tires and helmets to be used as protection against police brutality; and the travelers' food and clothing.  Until shortly before 16:00, the demonstrations had experienced little confrontation with the police. Protestors effectively blockaded a main road to the hotel strip where the WEF was meeting. But when locals started mixing with the protesters, the police moved in on the surprised crowds taking 10 to 20 (maybe even more) prisoners, firing gas and beating people who were laying on the ground covered in blood.

Protest  2/22-01 IMC post 

Tanzanian Government Worried Unrest May Hurt Reputation With Global Donors  The last month has been tense and violent on the semi-autonomous Tanzanian island, Zanzibar, as thousands of Zanzibaris have taken to the streets to question the legitimacy of the nation’s October 29, 2000, elections. On February 11, ten thousand supporters of the Civic United Front, opposition to Tanzania’s ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, which holds power on the mainland and in the islands of Zanzibar, rallied on Unguja, Zanzibar’s largest island, to call for a new constitution. The rally followed a bloody January 27 protest on the island during which government troops massacred over sixty participants in an "illegal" demonstration. Most recently, on February 19, machete-wielding assailants killed Rashid Omar Ali, local secretary of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi party.  President Benjamin Mkapa, who was attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, supporting a proposal by several African leaders to work in equal partnership with international lending institutions in order to economically develop the African continent, at the time of the January 27 massacre, has expressed public concern that the actions of his government will arouse the attention of human rights organizations, which in turn may threaten Tanzania’s chance of obtaining international loans.

  South Korean Workers Struggle   Daewoo Motor workers clashed with police in South Korea this week, as 1,500 protesters outside the Daewoo plant in Bupyong - about 30km west of Seoul, tried to force their way inside to join a sit-in of three hundred workers. Approximately 2,000 riot police blocked the entrance of plant but several outside protesters did manage to slip in. The sit-in began after the bankrupt business notified 1,751 workers that they were fired because of a restructuring plan intended to make the ailing auto maker an attractive purchase for General Motors. The clash is yet another in a series of violent episodes between police and Daewoo workers that has occurred since Daewoo collapsed during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. In Seoul on Monday 34 Daewoo Group executives and accountants, including Chang Byong-joo, former president of Daewoo Corp., were indicted for being involved in a multibillion slush fund. According to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KTCU), a militant umbrella group of trade unions that together boast about 600,000 members, "Daewoo Motor's mass layoffs, which was the largest-ever, was the result of the Kim Dae-Jung government's neo-liberalistic economic restructuring that demands sacrifice only from workers."

The continuing Daewoo struggle represents the fundamental shift in Korea’s economy since it crashed in 1997-98. To soothe the crisis, the International Monetary Fund offered to loan South Korea approximately USD $21 billion. In exchange, the government of former dissident Kim Dae-Jung agreed to the IMF’s economic restructuring program. The IMF has since heralded its South Korean loans as a stunning success. Currently the South Korean economy is growing at approximately 9%, but analysts worry that South Korea is still not streamlining its economy enough, even though unemployment has soared to at least 4%, a number well above pre-crisis levels, when South Koreans used to be able to rely on lifetime employment. KCTU officials predict the nation will face several hundred thousand layoffs if the government continues to follow IMF prescriptions; the union pledges to fight those layoffs, and the international globalization ("segyehwa") they represent, through strikes, protests and by whatever means necessary. In the words of union leader Kim Il-sup, "We've nothing more to lose, what can we do but protest?"

Life  2/17-01 IMC post  OUR GENES: LIFE FOR SALE  Human Genome Mapped . . . & Sold to the Highest Bidder?  Earlier this week geneticists from the Human Genome Project, an international research initiative funded by an array of government and foundation sources -- (the British wing, for example, was substantially funded by The Wellcome Trust, which claims independence from, but has a 4.7% holding in, the Glaxo Wellcome pharmaceutical company) -- announced that they have mapped the approximately thirty thousand genes that comprise human DNA. Scientists and the media are trumpeting the achievement as a milestone in human genetic science, likely to result in genetic cures for an infinite number of diseases. Biotechnology corporations are salivating over the money they hope to make from the sale of those cures.  Do biotech companies have the right to profit from series of human genes? Apparently they do – legally, at least. During the 1980s the U.S. government removed all legal barriers to patenting human genetic information, and in the ‘90s pushed similar policies through international trade bodies like the WTO, requiring member nations to legalize the patentability of most forms of life.

Protest  2/4-01 IMC post  ECUADOR: THE STRUGGLE AGAINST STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT    Indigenous Activists Confront Ecuadorian Government  This week in Ecuador a confrontation between the government of President Gustavo Noboa and indigenous groups in the South American nation has escalated into the nation’s most powerful protests since January 2000, when a popular uprising inspired by the Council of Indigenous Nations of Ecuador (CONAIE) forced then-president Jamil Mahaud to relinquish power. Ecuador has experienced great unrest over the last year, as Noboa’s government and the International Monetary Fund, preparing the country for a US$304 million loan that could lead to almost US$2 billion in additional funding, have imposed economic "adjustments," including the dollarisation of the Ecuadorian economy, wage restraint, the removal of subsidies and widespread privatization. According to Ecuadorian trade unions, churches, indigenous activists, students, women’s organizations, environmental groups and other social action organizations, these adjustments have led to increased economic hardship for the Ecuadorian people. In June tens of thousands of Ecuadorians participated in a general strike. Said Wilson Alverez, president of the Workers United Front: "We're going to take to the streets to reject the economic package, reject the miserable increases in salaries and the hikes in fuel and electricity costs." In Quito, riot police met protesters who tried to march on the government palace during the strike with tear gas. This week’s protests against rising fuel prices have resulted in the January 30 detention o. (Vargas was soon released.) On February 1, Ecuadorian women's, environmental, human rights and labor organizations occupied the Consejo Nacional de Modernizacion (National Office of Modernization) in Quito in solidarity with indigenous demonstrators who have blocked roads and taken control of television and radio facilities around the nation. On February 3 the government declared a state of emergency, and tensions escalated aferward as several were killed and many injured in continued confrontations throughout the country. Stay tuned to the Indymedia news wire for updates from Ecuador.

Environment  1/26-01 IMC post INDIA: DEATH TOLL RISING   Earthquake Claims Over 20,000  AHMEDABAD  India's most powerful earthquake in over fifty years rocked the subcontinent on the morning of January 27, killing at least 20,000 people. Tens of thousands are homeless. The 7.9 magnitude temblor in western Gujarat state, close to Pakistan's border, was felt as far away as New Delhi, Nepal, and coastal Bangladesh, perhaps 1,200 miles away.  When there is a tragedy like the earthquake in India, after a short period of international attention during which aid organizations rush in under the gaze of television cameras to provide food, clothing and other types of immediate assistance, focus shifts away from the area in crisis. This leaves the aid organizations, along with an array of multinational corporations and national governments with a specific interest in the crisis area, to "reconstruct" the area with little international scrutiny. As Znet commentator Leslie Cagan wrote after a devastating 1999 earthquake in Turkey "Disaster happens - either caused by nature or man (and I use that word very consciously) - and great money-making opportunities open up."  Exactly how do these "money-making opportunities open up?" The Center for Reconstruction and Development, a project of Equity International, Inc., "a leader in facilitating the economic development of emerging markets by bringing together multilateral lending institutions, U.S. and foreign corporations, and governments to encourage business and finance opportunities," opens many of them by connecting corporations like Alcatel, International Paper, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon with political and "development community" (i.e. the World Bank and IMF) leaders in order to "aid in the reconstruction efforts of countries and regions following natural disasters, war, or political transition." Since 1996, according to the Center's web site, over 2,000 major corporations, organizations, agencies, and governments, have participated in Equity's "reconstruction and development conferences" about reconstructing ravaged regions in places like Turkey, Central America and the Balkans. How do multinational corporations and governments work together to manage the "reconstruction and development" of regions of the world after a natural, or man-made disaster? Where will these interests focus next? One possibility: the lead story on the top of the Center’s web site on January 28 – "Earthquake in India Kills 15,000."

Justice  1/1-01 IMC post  SPAIN: PRISION FASTS CONTINUE  Prisoners Strike Against FIES  On December 1st 2000 more than 50 prisoners in different prisons in Spain have started an indefinite hunger strike. Another 150 prisoners are taking part by solidarity actions. The prisoners have three central demands: an end to the FIES and isolation, an end to the dispersion of prisoners and the release prisoners with incurable sickness. F.I.E.S. (Fichero de Internos de Especial Seguimiento) is a coercive measure of illegal character, which has been unsuccessfully denounced on various occasions, even though it is contrary to the Spanish Constitution as it restricts fundamental rights.
Conflict  1/1-01 IMC post-Israel  MIDEAST: NEWS FROM HEBRON   Testimony on the Situation in Hebron  A conference was held on Dec. 14th at the Tel-Aviv University entitled Testimonies: Reports on the Al-Aqsa Intifada. Testimony on the present situation in Hebron was given by Ms. Kauthar Salaam, a journalist who works for the UN and lives in Hebron. Her report was given in English. Listen to her testimony in Real Audio format.  [ imc-israel ]

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