Reuters | November 8, 2001
BERLIN - Barred from traveling to Qatar, anti-globalization protesters will spread their demonstrations against the World Trade Organization from Mexico to Mongolia this week with an added anti-war element to their protests.
But the sober atmosphere created by the war and the September attacks on the United States means there is unlikely to be a repeat of violence that marked the 1999 WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle and other recent international gatherings.
The five-day ministerial conference of the WTO kicks off late on Friday in Doha, the Qatari capital, where negotiators hope to agree on a new round of global free trade talks to begin early next year, something they failed to do in Seattle in 1999.
"It's symbolic that it should be taking place in a desert. It seems the WTO want to shut out the workers. Again there's a lack of transparency in their negotiations," Margret Moenig-Raane, deputy leader of Germany's largest union Verdi, told a news conference in Berlin.
The unions and the anti-globalization lobby group Attac, who have joined forces for their days of action, say only 300 representatives of non-industrial NGOs (non-governmental organizations) have been allowed into Doha for this weekend.
Rainbow Warrior, the flagship of the environmental group Greenpeace, did dock in Doha on Thursday, although Greenpeace complained that other NGOs and the public were not being allowed the free access that had been promised.
"We have to let the WTO continue in the desert, while we demonstrate here," said Attac coordinator Oliver Moldenhauer, whose group opposes the liberalization it says is being imposed on the developing world and perpetuating the rich-poor divide.
OVER 100 CITIES
The high point of German protests, which go from mass rallies to street theater, is likely to come in the capital Berlin, with 5,000 to 10,000 expected to gather on Saturday.
A similar number are expected to mass simultaneously in Geneva, where the WTO is based. Separate protests will be held on Friday and Saturday in 100 cities across the globe.
Marches are planned in Thailand and Hong Kong, a rally in New Delhi, street circus in Rio, carnival in Canada, and festive funeral for the WTO in southern France. A number of U.S. cities will see protests, among them a parade in New York and a vigil in Washington.
Labor unions plan the first Global Unions Day of Action, spanning seminars, street protests, forums and fairs.
After violent outbursts in Seattle and at July's Group of Eight big-power summit in Genoa, in which police shot dead a demonstrator, the actions will likely have a more peaceful tone.official Remembrance Day ceremonies in a number of European countries to commemorate the dead of two world wars.
In Berlin, the rally combines anti-WTO with anti-war in the slogan "Stop the war. Fight for the poor, not against them."
"There's obviously a war going on. There's a natural link between the two themes," said Attac's Moldenhauer.
COMPETING PROTESTS
In Rome, there will be two contrasting demonstrations.
One, organized by anti-globalization activists, was originally intended to protest against the WTO meeting, but has largely turned into a pacifist rally.
Rome Social Forum, an umbrella group comprising many activist groups, says the protest is "against hunger, war and the logic imposed by the WTO."
"We will express solidarity to the people of the United States victims of the September 11 attacks but will shout out 'No' to Bush and his warriors and to NATO," the group said.
Starting at the same time on Saturday, a rally organized by the parties of the governing center-right coalition will gather to demonstrate Italian solidarity with the United States.
Sophia Loren and Luciano Pavarotti will respectively speak and sing via video link, while Andrea Bocelli will perform on stage. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will deliver the closing address and hopes to have a recorded message from U.S. President George Bush. Organizers say 100,000 people will attend.
Anti-globalization groups says Doha was chosen as the location for the WTO meeting at least in part to avoid public scrutiny and public participation.
A counter-congress has already been held in Beirut.
The meeting, from November 6-8, gathered unions, women's groups, environmentalists and youth activists under the banner 'Our World is Not for Sale'.
Attac's Geneva spokesman Alberto Velasco told Reuters Television that peaceful protest might be the most effective protest.
"If there is 100,000 Swiss francs ($60,000) of damage done during a demonstration, we focus on this and ignore the billions of francs of damage that the WTO is doing in the developing countries," he said.Reuters:
