>From: "Macdonald Stainsby" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Rad Green" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 11:39:12 -0700 > >>From IndyMedia Centre at www.indymedia.org > >by Undercurrents 12:35pm Tue Sep 26 '00 >phone: 004473298359 [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Undercurrents report from Prague. > >Undercurrents report live from Prague 26 Sept 2000 > >By Martin Palmer and Paul O' Connor,Undercurrents > > The images presented to the planet when the International Monetary >Fund and World Bank hold their annual joint meetings are not ones of men in >suits making key decisions for entire nations. The latest images are now of >young people playing drums and waving banners, often lost in smoke and tear >gas fired from riot police. Today, as the meetings got underway in Prague's >former Communist-era Palace of Culture, a police and army guard set out to >ensure the security of the "castle" as activists have dubbed it. Around >8000 activists are on the streets of the capital of the Czech republic to >disrupt the meetings, taking inspiration from the actions in Seattle and >Washington DC. > > On Sunday the Undercurrents video crew arrived at the Independent >Media Center to find police illegally insisting on checking the passports >of everyone who arrived. When the Undercurrents reporters refused to give >any details and attempted to enter, the police dragged Martin while another >grabbed his lens. The independent media responded by putting a dozen >cameras in the face of the officers and forcing them to leave. > > Ya Basta! an Italian network of very together activists hijacked a >train to take them to Prague. 1,200, strong they led one of the three parts >of the demonstration. Protesters sorted themselves into three groups with >blue, pink and yellow colour's for ease of identification and cordination. >Flags in the three colours led the march off in opposite directions both to >surround the castle and also confuse the police. > > At the police barricade on the road bridge opposite the conference >center, banners in various languages declared the protests illegal and that >force would be used to disperse people. A stand off was the result with >the Ya Basta! leading the yellow group trying to push past the police line. >Activists succeeded in taking two police batons as souvenirs. Having made >their was round to the other side of the center the Pink group, consisting >of mainly British activists, moved in. With a sound track from a Samba band >and activist folk band 'Seize the Day', activists got busy with fence >cutting. One fence cutter said " I am doing this to stop people being hurt >if the police try to force us into the side." Meanwhile the downed fence >was dragged off to become part of the activist's barricades. Police refused >to talk despite various musicians trying to open a dialogue. > > A diminutive middle aged Indian woman from the Narmada dam campaign >stood nose to nose with the line of armed & armored police in gasmasks. The >pink group moved past the military tanks, hundreds of armored police, and >dozens of army personnel and found a side street blocked only by a thin >line of uniformed police. Masked up black clad activists grabbed a metal >barrier and ran at the line and a battle ensued with both sides getting >stuck in. Sticks and rocks were thrown as police responded with deafening >loud firecrackers, smoke grenades, and water cannons. One masked up young >man grabbed cameras screaming at the press, both independent and >mainstream, to stop filming. Meanwhile the samba band and other activists >blockaded the streets forcing a number of delegate's cars off the road. One >Mercedes had its windows smashed and after making a run for it the suited >middle aged male occupants had an undignified clamber over the police >barricades to escape. > > City center McDonalds restaurants lost a few windows while taxi >drivers complained that activists were targeting them for carrying >delegates to and from their hotels. The British group got a call on their >mobile from a woman named Estelle. She has a broken arm and head injuries >and is hiding in a hospital from the police. Radio and television news is >reporting that 25 police officers have been injured. Delegates have been >told that they can not leave the conference center as they are surrounded >but later reports said that they are being evacuated on trains. > > End > > >================ >Macdonald Stainsby. > >Rad-Green List: Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion. >http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/rad-green >---------- >http://www.geocities.com/leninist_international/ >http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international > > >_______________________________________________ >Rad-Green mailing list >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To change your options or unsubscribe go to: >http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/rad-green > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. 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