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Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Aug. 22, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- EARLY MORNING PROTEST SLAMS VP
By Bill Hackwell
San Francisco More than 500 protesters gathered outside San
Francisco's
Fairmont Hotel at 8:00 a.m. on Aug. 7 to denounce Vice President Dick Cheney as a war criminal and corporate thief. This was the first public speaking appearance in several months for Cheney, who has been in virtual hiding. The corporation that he formerly headed,
Halliburton, is
under investigation for fraud and other corrupt practices while Cheney was its chief executive officer. Halliburton profits heavily from both oil and military contracts. Despite the fraud investigation, the company has
been
awarded huge new government contracts recently, including an unprecedented 10-year contract to provide logistical support to the U.S. Army. Cheney is also widely believed to be leading the
charge for
a new war against Iraq. As secretary of defense in the first Bush administration, Cheney was a major player in the 1991 Gulf War. A spirited rally was held across the street from
the
Fairmont Hotel. Speakers included: Richard Mead, president of International Longshore Workers Union Local 10; Gloria La Riva, president of the Typographical Sector of Media Workers Local 39521 and a representative of the International Action Center; Monica Enriquez, Committee for a New Colombia; Alicia Jrapko, National Committee to Free the Five Cuban Political Prisoners in the U.S.; Riva Enteen, program director of the National Lawyers Guild-Bay Area Chapter; and Richard Becker of the IAC and International ANSWER coalition. The "Other Dick Cheney," a radical impersonator,
and fellow
members of the San Francisco Mime Troupe staged a street theater performance throughout the protest satirizing Cheney's involvement in corporate corruption. Inside the hotel, several protesters disrupted the
vice
president's speech, chanting "Cheney--corporate crook" before being escorted out. The demonstration was sponsored by the
International Action
Center, Global Exchange, the American Arab Anti- Discrimination Committee and other organizations, and was widely covered by local and national media. - END -
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