Oi WTO
Between November 30th and December 3rd Seattle hosted the third ministerial conference of the WTO. It brought together bureaucrats from 135 nations to attempt to further impose the market on our lives and to make major decisions in our 'best interests'. However the WTO’s aims are far from this. Since being established in 1995 the WTO has continuously placed profit before people and planet. In response to this and in attempts to build better mechanisms for ensuring social justice and environmental protection actions took place on and around N30 throughout the world...
In Sheffield on Friday 19th November, prior to the WTO meeting, around 12 terrorists gained entry into Cabinet Minister Richard Caborn's Office. The terrorists were armed with anti-WTO leaflets and two were heavily disguised as a pantomime cow. After using false pretences to gain entry into his office (’’Delivery for Mr Caborn”) they proceeded to harass the Minister for Trade about his forthcoming visit to the WTO meeting.
In Madya Pradesh, India, more than 300 indigenous Adivasis jumped over the fence of the World Bank, building on 24th November. They blocked the building, covering it with posters, graffiti, and cow shit, sang traditional songs at the gate, and went back only after Mr Lim, the country director of the World Bank, went out to receive a letter signed by all their movements. Attempts by Mr Lim to deliver a speech were refused by the Adivasis who said that such dialogues only had the objective of deceiving the Adivasis while pushing through commercial interests.
On 25th Nov 5000 French farmers held a banquet of local produce under the Eiffel Tower in protest at the impact of trade liberalisation.
Sleepless in Seattle...
Tens of thousands of people converged on Seattle to protest at the WTO’s neoliberal agenda in many different, non-violent ways. They scared off Bill Clinton and successfully impeded the talks. The response of the state was massive and brutal. A state of emergency was declared; martial law enforced and a curfew imposed between 2pm and dawn every night. 500 people were arrested on Wednesday night for breaking the curfew and protesting in the newly declared “no protest zone“; tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets were fired indiscriminately at protesters and passers-by by robocop clad cops. A Chinese observer commented “this is as significant for the west as Tiananmen square was for us... Governments will have to respond.”
The talks were finally abandoned on Friday night. As the director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch said, “The allegedly unstoppable force of globalisation just hit the immovable object called grassroots democracy.”
London’s Burning
Early in the day there were protests at Trafalgar Square and outside the Citibank. Later, over 1000 people gathered outside Euston Station to ‘reclaim the railways’ from proposed privatisation.
Tabloids fuelled the usual paranoia about “eco-terrorists” - The Evening Standard reported protesters inserted razorblades into leaflets! Riot police outnumbered protesters two to one, they blocked in the crowd and were forcefully taking photo‘s and ID. At the end of the rally a police van was torched and around 40 people were arrested by heavy-handed cops. 4 were charged with violent disorder and 7 were injured.
Doin’ It Up Nestle
Around 40 people invaded the Nestle factory in Halifax. Some walked through the food factory turning off chocolate machines, other groups invaded offices and others hung banners. The fire alarms went off, the police arrived and the workers all piled out of the factory wondering what was going on. When they learned what the WTO was and why Nestle was targeted, several proved quite sympathetic. Once the main crowd of protesters had left to blockade the gate, the police arrested those left on-site. Three people hung a massive banner from 50 feet up the factory’s chimney. In all 15 were arrested, a number for attempted burglary (?!)
Leeds Shenanigans
Over 100 people gathered in Leeds, matched by double that number of police. They walked through the streets with banners and huge model figures, of a rich boss and an enslaved worker. Settling down outside British Telecom, leaflets were handed which listed the corporate targets in Leeds that supported the WTO. An Esso garage was then blockaded, the rooms in the Hilton hotel leafleted and other autonomous actions taken by small groups.
WTO demo’s took place all over the country, in Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield, Cardiff, Bangor and Edinburgh. There were marches, video-showings and blockades. In Totnes a disused garage and old Toll House were squatted to raise local awareness about the WTO.
Other decentralised protests took place around the world. In Geneva ‘vandals’ cut the electricity supply to the WTO HQ causing an explosion in the adjacent power supply building and plunging the WTO building into darkness and wiping out computer links to Seattle.