AFTER SEATTLE, PROTEST REBORN.
The last time opponents of global capitalism confronted the ranks of domestic law enforcement¾in Seattle, Nov. 30 to Dec. 3¾the results were clouds of tear gas, volleys of rubber bullets and the makings of a mass protest movement whose energy and appeal have surprised even some of its organizers, the Washington Post reports (4/2, p. A1).
Round 2 is scheduled for April 16 and 17 in Washington, but protesters will begin arriving from across the country Saturday. Both sides are immersed in preparations. The region is about to take a ringside seat for a turn-of-the-century spectacle: Arcane economic institutions now spark as much outrage in some people as the Vietnam War, civil rights and nuclear weapons did during the storied demonstrations of yore.
The protesters' target in Seattle was a summit of the World Trade Organization, which was disrupted by more than 30,000 demonstrators, the article notes. In Washington, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are being cast as the villains. Their meetings on April 16 and 17 are routine, but protest organizers decided to use them to sustain the Seattle momentum.
How have these institutions become so notorious? Their opponents charge that loan policies of the bank and the fund impose harsh conditions on poor countries and favor Western creditors and U.S. corporations.
Yet the revolution is struggling to live up to its ideal of diversity, the story continues. Nearly all participants in planning meetings are white. Most live in the District. They are aware they are inviting thousands of visitors to break the laws of the predominantly African American city. So they are trying to organize in black and Latino neighborhoods. "It's always a struggle to make bridges of this type, particularly when the issue appears to be a little removed from your daily life," said the Rev. Graylan Ellis-Hagler, pastor of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, a protest supporter who is black.
A separate Washington Post story (p. A14) adds that Bank and Fund officials say they are willing to discuss differences with their critics but warn that blocking the April meetings is against the best interests of the world's poor. For example, a key item on the World Bank's agenda April 17 is a discussion of the HIV crisis. How ironic that some protesters, who favor greater access to AIDS drugs, would try to stop that, the newspaper quotes bank spokeswoman Caroline Anstey as saying.
"We hope we can debate around tables rather than in the streets," Anstey said. "The problem with street democracy is that it isn't always very democratic. There are a whole lot of voices, most importantly the voices of the 1.2 billion [people in the world] who live on less than $1 a day whom the Bank is there to serve and who may not be represented in the streets."
Also reporting on the protests, USA Today (4/3, p. 22A) says that on April 16, the Mobilization for Global Justice has scheduled a rally near the Washington Monument, followed by a march. Known as "A16" by supporters, the protest is expected to draw 5,000 to 10,000 people. "It won't match Seattle in terms of numbers," the newspaper quotes Mike Dolan, deputy director of Nader's Global Watch Trade Watch, as saying. "What made the whole greater than the sum of its in Seattle was that it was a day of constant activity by so many different groups," including a labor march that drew 40,000 people. "This is more spread out."
Separately, commenting on an IMF/World Bank/Brookings Institution-sponsored conference in Florham Park, New Jersey this weekend, Dow Jones says the Associated Press reported that hoisting signs reading "More World, Less Bank," about 200 people protested as officials of the IMF and the World Bank concluded the three-day conference. The mostly peaceful rally on Saturday was marked by the arrest of six protesters near the close of meetings, AP said.
Police turned out in force to ensure organizers kept their pledge that there would be no violence at the rally, organized by a coalition of grassroots groups called the "New Jersey/New York Mobilization for Global Justice".
The Newark Star-Ledger (4/2) reports seven people were arrested at the protest on Saturday. Inside, 180 participants at the conference discussed the Asian economic crisis and how to avoid similar pitfalls in the future.
Dow Jones reports World Bank officials appeared to be taking the situation in stride. "There is greater public awareness of international institutions and the challenges that economies face in dealing with globalization," said Gary Perlin, a senior vice president at the World Bank. "They are using our organization as a proxy for something to be questioned and to be addressed," Perlin said of the protestors.
"We feel the protesters have the right to protest but the World Bank has a right to have meeting," the New Jersey Daily Record (4/2) quotes Bank spokesman Andrew Kircher as saying.