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> home - action - genoa -
WE ARE EVERYWHERE! Leaflet handed out at Italian Embassy protest, Manchester 24 July 2001 Since Thursday there have been huge protests on the streets of Genoa in Italy. This is because the heads of government of eight of the most powerful countries in the world (the 'G8') are meeting there to discuss how to push forward with globalisation, and carve up our future. Murderers On Saturday, a 23 year old Italian called Carlo Guiliani was killed by the Italian armed police - shot twice in the face and then run over. A french woman remains critically ill in hospital after being hit in the head by police while she was running away. 
Violence and censorship On Saturday night, two buildings opposite each other in Via Cesare Battisti in Genoa, hosting the Indymedia Centre and the Genoa Social Forum were brutally raided by police just after midnight. Police used tear gas inside the buildings and baton charged against people sitting on the ground. 20 people are confirmed to be severely injured, one of them an IMC UK reporter. Police claim to have looked for weapons under Article 41 of the Italian law permitting a search without warrant, but have destroyed the legal teams' computer equipment, confiscated videos, floppies and hard disks, and have beaten people indiscriminately. 8 arrests have been made of which one person has been released, reporting to have been beaten heavily.
So why are so many people still out there on the streets risking their lives to protest at this meeting? Globalisation is all about the wealthy exploiting the poor. We've seen it for years in this country - the rich business people getting rich off our backs - globalisation just takes things further. Big multinational corporations are the new empire builders of the world - exploiting the labour and the resources of third world countries to make bigger profits for their shareholders. Ford motor company is now worth more than Denmark! And here we've been affected too - selling off our public services has been part of pushing for free trade. The Private Finance Initiative is Blair's version of this. Foot& Mouth was caused by the big supermarkets controlling farming and agriculture...the list goes on.
People are angry about the suffering caused by globalisation and are fighting back - and now it seems the globalisers will go to any lengths including murdering the protesters to make sure that they can carry on making their money regardless. We denounce TV reports that it is 'black block' anarchists, who are unaware of the issues, who are sparking the violence. The hundreds of people who die every day as a result of globalisation, the massive environmental destruction, the unarmed man shot in Brixton, the people homeless on our streets, the innocent people in prison, the needless slaughter of animals - this is the real violence going on all day every day in today's society at the hands of the bloody system we live under. Anyone who has a vision of a better world, and fights for it in whatever way they feel appropriate, anyone who is prepared to stand up to police guns, tear gas, water cannons with whatever sticks and bottles they find in the streets - are heroes& heroines. We are out here to show our solidarity with those suffering extreme violence at the hands of the Italian police.
For more information on protests in Genoa, look at http://uk.indymedia.org For more information on anti-globalisation issues - www.infoshop.org Info on meetings, actions and events in Manchester, pick up a copy of Loombreaker, monthly free news sheet. Contact us for a copy - loombreaker@nematode.freeserve.co.uk, or 0161 226 6814, or for the next week pop by the Okasional Café on Charles St (off Oxford Rd by BBC) and pick up a ton of info (sporadic open times, knock and ask for info) What's your opinion on the protest? > urban75 bulletin boards |
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