STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: secr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, July 16, 2001 9:20 AM Subject: [mobilize-globally] Thousands of protesters await G8 leaders in Genoa Subject: [mayday2k] Thousands of protesters await G8 leaders in Genoa Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2001 02:27:13 EDT From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] [There is some disinfo in the follow article but still worthy of reading] "Host nation Italy is mounting one of the biggest security operations the country has seen for years, pouring in 15,000 armed police and troops to ensure leaders from the United States, Russia, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Britain and Canada can discuss global issues in safety on July 20-22. It will be impossible for the rich nations club not to react to the presence of the expected 120,000 protesters purporting to speak for the "have-nots" around the world." <A HREF="aol://4344:30.L100crZg.366773.679652058"> 07/15: Thousands of protesters await G8 leaders in Genoa</A> Thousands of protesters await G8 leaders in Genoa By Steve Pagani ROME, July 15 (Reuters) - When eight of the world's most powerful leaders gather in Genoa for their annual summit this week, thousands of protesters will be waiting for them. Group of Eight leaders, with President George W. Bush making his G8 debut, will for the first time face the now familiar sight of mass protests marking summits across the globe. Anti-globalisation demonstrations took off with a vengeance at a World Trade Organisation summit in Seattle in December 1999. Not even environmentalists Greenpeace could get near last year's G8 meeting on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. This year will be very different. Host nation Italy is mounting one of the biggest security operations the country has seen for years, pouring in 15,000 armed police and troops to ensure leaders from the United States, Russia, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Britain and Canada can discuss global issues in safety on July 20-22. It will be impossible for the rich nations club not to react to the presence of the expected 120,000 protesters purporting to speak for the "have-nots" around the world. Organisations representing the environment or animal and plant preservation, or fighting debt relief, poverty, hunger, the spread of AIDS, cultural and sexual equality, have been making preparations for months to make their voice heard. "The concerns of quite a lot of these people are serious," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who will attend the summit, told Germany's Suddeutsche Zeitung daily. "The politicians must explain globalisation better." But as at other summits since Seattle -- in Prague, Nice, Quebec City and Gothenburg -- police are expecting a hard core of activists to light the tinderbox. Past protests have seen clashes with police, the destruction of property and injury. CAN EIGHT MEN CHANGE THE WORLD? As witnessed at the European Union summit in Gothenburg, Sweden, last month, violence can almost totally overshadow the main event, shifting the media focus and grabbing the headlines. Will it matter? Critics argue over whether annual summits of the top industrialised nations can spur any change anyway. "They are reactive on the political level, but pro-active on the economic and financial level," said Franco Pavoncello, professor of political science at John Cabot University in Rome. "Any system where all the major currencies and economies can get together to discuss coordination is extremely important." According to the Japanese government, talks on the global economic slowdown and how to boost growth will figure large on the first day of the summit on Friday. The seven major economic powers were expected to exchange views on a new round of global trade talks to start at a WTO meeting in Qatar in November, and review progress on reducing Third World debt, a Japanese official said. A German official in Berlin said there would be no mention of exchange rates in the G7 communique. After issuing the statement, the G7 will become eight when it is joined by Russian President Vladimir Putin to review such key issues as the Kyoto pact on climate change and combating AIDS. The G8 was expected to make a statement on regional conflicts, perhaps on the Middle East peace process or Macedonia on Saturday, and then issue a final communique on Sunday. CLIMATE, DEBT, POVERTY The 1997 Kyoto protocol has assumed centre stage at key encounters since Bush rejected it, a decision which has added fuel to environmentalist fires. "Japan will try to come up with some kind of effort not to kill the Kyoto accord," Japanese Professor of Political Science Kuniko Inoguchi told Reuters Television in Tokyo. To come away with a foreign policy feather in his cap at his first G8, Bush may prefer to focus on areas where common ground is more likely, such as on AIDS or debt relief. Lobbied by the Vatican, Italy's new centre-right government led by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wants progress on debt cancellation. Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero intends to focus on improving access to Western markets as a way to alleviate poverty in less developed countries. To show its commitment, Rome has invited South African President Thabo Mbeki, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and other leaders of developing nations to Genoa. Meanwhile, Ruggiero has kept dialogue open with the protest groups, but some are angry few of their demands have been met. Unauthorised protests will go ahead, they say -- the biggest planned for Friday, when some groups will try to breach the top security "Red Zone" around the historic port, which includes the main summit venue, the 13th century Palazzo Ducale. Italy has hired a luxury liner to accommodate all the leaders apart from Bush, so they can be kept under tight guard in one spot when they rest, and far away from any street battles. No details of where Bush is staying have yet been released. To safeguard against any attack, the steel cordon around the city has been reinforced with surface-to-air missiles, air force surveillance of the skies and navy monitoring of the waters. One Italian activist said the authorities were creating a climate of fear to try to keep protesters away. "After Gothenburg the situation has changed. Police shot protesters. We are getting ready to defend ourselves," Riccardo Germani told Reuters Television. Additional reporting by Reuters Television Rome and Tokyo. 04:13 07-15-01 FOCUS: Bush runs risk of isolation at G-8 summit <A HREF="aol://4344:30.L100csbT.337372.679715843"> 07/15: AOL News: FOCUS: Bush runs risk of isolation at G-8 summit</A> .c Kyodo News Service WASHINGTON, July 15 (Kyodo) - By: Yoichi Kosukegawa U.S. President George W. Bush, who has shown disdain for treaties on global warming, antiballistic missile defense and nuclear tests, faces the risk of being isolated at the upcoming Group of Eight (G-8) summit in Genoa, Italy. It is uncertain to what extent Bush is ready to be involved in the policy coordination process among the G-8 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States -- as he increasingly takes a hard-line unilaterally on key global issues. Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. Community email addresses: Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Shortcut URL to this page: http://www.onelist.com/community/mayday2k To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
