*******************************
WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY NETWORK
Native
Forest Network Protests World Bank/IMF Policies
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Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
October
13, 1995
OVERVIEW
& SOURCE
The
Native Forest Network herein reports on a protest at the new
World
Bank headquarters in New York, to coincide with World Bank
/IMF
annual meetings. Their extreme position
taken is that the
World
Bank should be dismantled, partly on the basis of ecological
and
genocidal loaning practices. Keep in
mind that this list
passes
along materials from across the conservation spectrum,
though
the opinions expressed in the relayed text is that of the
writing
organization. In times of unparalleled
biological
decline,
peaceful protest has a genuine and necessary role in
pulling
the human race back into sustainability with the Earth.
This
item was posted by the Native Forest Network in econet's
(Pegasus
in Australia, Greennet in Europe) rainfor.general
(rainforest
general) conference.
Glen
Barry
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RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
/*
Written 2:24 PM Oct 12, 1995 by nfn in igc:rainfor.genera */
/*
---------- "World Bank Action!" ---------- */
From:
Native Forest Network <nfn@igc.apc.org>
ACTIVISTS OCCUPY CRANE IN DC TO PROTEST
WORLD BANK AND IMF
DEMAND END TO GLOBAL GENOCIDE AND
ECOCIDE
The World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF)
were
stunned by a fourth day of demonstrations on October 10 when
activists
from the Native Forest Network (NFN) and Earth First!
hung
two banners from a crane at the construction site of the
lavish
new World Bank headquarters. The banners, strung from the
crane's
cross-arm 200 feet above the entrances to the World Bank
and
IMF, read "World Bank Equals Genocide" and "U.S. Out of
Mexico." Three other activists locked down part way
up the tower
of the
crane. Two activists escaped (both are
white) but the
three
tower occupiers, all people of color, were arrested in what
appeared
to be a racially motivated harrassment by DC police
(please
see below for details).
A crowd of demonstrators gathered on the
sidewalk with
signs,
placards and a megaphone, talking with passers-by and
heckling
World Bank and IMF employees on their way to work.
Police
pushed the demonstrators back at one point but they soon
returned
to march, chant and bellow through the megaphone in
front
of the World Bank/IMF building entrances and right below
the
banners on the crane. Howls echoed
through the streets of
Washington,
reaching the Mexican Embassy a block away.
The action coincided with the World
Bank/IMF Annual Meetings
and
followed demonstrations by representatives of the Zapatista
National
Liberation Army (EZLN) of Chiapas, Mexico, the
international
student A SEED network, and the U.S. 50 Years is
Enough
coalition at a variety of events and locations around
Washington.
The NFN/EF! action was launched in solidarity with
the EZLN
and with people from around the world who gathered here
to
protest the annual World Bank/IMF meeting.
The EZLN is in Washington this week to
protest both the
World
Bank/IMF economic policies which lead to suffering in
Chiapas
and the peso crisis in Mexico, and Mexican President
Ernest
Zedillo's visit to request millions more dollars from
President
Clinton to bail out the wealthy Mexican and Wall Street
investors'
losses from the crisis.
"We strive to dismantle institutions
like the World Bank and
IMF,
whose lending policies impoverish people everywhere and
exploit
the global ecology via destructive projects," said Orin
Langelle
of the NFN. "This action is in
solidarity with the EZLN
and the
people of Chiapas, whose struggle against multinational
corporate
domination of the Earth is an inspiration to freedom
fighters
everywhere."
According to Greenpeace, since 1947, 20
million poor people
have
been evicted from their homes in India alone due to World
Bank
development loans that fund massive dams and other
megaprojects. World Bank and IMF lending policies have had
similar
effects in many countries, keeping poor countries in debt
by
building infrastructure they cannot afford. The World Bank
reaps
over $1.1 billion in annual profits even though its
policies
harm the planet's poorest people and result in massive
ecological
damage.
At the scene of the protests, activist
Rachel Simpson
declared,
"As long as greedy multinational corporations lusting
for
profit continue to gobble up the Earth and its inhabitants in
a mad
race for profit, we will resist!"
THREE
ARRESTED BY RACIST DC POLICE
Three activists who occupied the tower of
the crane at the
World
Bank construction site were arrested after several hours
locked
onto the crane. One of the activists,
Melissa Burch,
occupied
the driver's cab at the top of the crane, foiling
attempts
to remove her until she chose to descend.
The other two
activists
are Ronika Mukerjee and Martin Wiley.
All three chose
to
descend because they were informed by the construction company
(Hyman
Construction) that charges would not be pressed. In fact,
the
construction workers, including the site bosses, were highly
supportive. Even the crane operator expressed his
support for
our
right to protest. However, when the
three descended they
were
detained by DC police. Hyman still did
not want to press
charges,
nor did the World Bank, but police insisted on arresting
the
three on charges of illegal entry.
After a night in
cockroach-infested
cells, all charges were dropped, proving these
three
should never have been arrested.
The ugliest part of these arrests was
that the two white
activists
were allowed to walk away (though one appears to have
escaped)
while three people of color were arrested.
As soon as
they
were arrested, in front of a group of supporters,
construction
workers, pedestrians and World Bank/IMF employees,
supporters
loudly berated the police for racism, confronting them
with a
megaphone and loud curses while briefly blocking their
cars. The police had been warned about this by the
NFN
negotiator
who was on the site.
This was a highly sucessful action and
was strongly endorsed
by the
EZLN and US environmental groups like The Rainforest
Action
Network and Friends of the Earth, both of whom sent people
to to
the scene. Ties with the EZLN and the
international
coalitions
being built around their cause got a big boost from
this
dramatic and bold protest.
VIVA
ZAPATA!
Tell
the World Bank you want it to shut down NOW:
World
Bank
1818 H
St. NW
Washington,
DC 20433
Posted
by:
Phil
Knight
NFN
Yellowstone
PO Box
6151
Bozeman,
MT 59771-6151
Email
nfn@igc.apc.org
For
more info on the situation in Chiapas please contact:
NFN
Eastern North America resource Center
PO Box
57
Burlington,
VT 04502
(802)
863-0571
Email
nfnena@igc.apc.org
###
RELAYED TEXT ENDS HERE ###
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