Protests a "serious threat" to London capitalists

 

A MASSIVE wave of anti-capitalist resistance is set to hit London at the start of June.

The Stop G8 week of action ahead of the G8 Summit, featuring the J11 Carnival Against Capitalism on Tuesday June 11, is already worrying the British state.

One newspaper report says "the G8 protests represent a serious threat" and claims Home Secretary Theresa May is ordering in German water cannon, to be used on the British mainland for the first time.

It says: "Mrs May is concerned about thousands of anarchists and other protesters from North America and Europe converging on Britain next month."

A Home Office "source" is said to have told the newspaper: "There's an urgency to get the water cannons by the summer. Theresa May is actually pushing for it. The G8 is a worry for them."

There are a a number of protests lined up around London between June 6 and 14. Some anti-capitalists will be heading to Watford where the 2013 Bilderberg Conference is being held from June 6 to June 8.

UK Indymedia reports that the Stop G8 convergence "will begin on the weekend of June 8-9, with workshops and skillshares involving Green and Black Cross and Fitwatch in preparation for the J11 Carnival Against Capitalism on Tuesday June 11.

"There will then be an anti-militarist protest on Wednesday June 12 and a No Borders No Prisons! day of actions on Thursday June 13, while on Friday June 14 They Owe Us plan to appear somewhere in Canary Wharf, to reclaim and transform a space, bringing beauty and hope to the soulless heart of capitalism."

Stop G8 says the J11 Carnival Against Capitalism will be "a time to celebrate our resistance and our dreams, to bring music and colour to the streets. And also to show our strength and our anger."

Bomb targets Greek capitalist

A BOMB has gone off outside the home of a leading Greek capitalist and banker.

Says From The Greek Streets: "At approximately 8.30 pm on Wednesday, a bomb exploded outside the house of ship-owner Nikos Tsakos in central Athens, near the Acropolis. A yet unnamed group called a newspaper to warn about the bomb, but has yet to issue a communique."

Until recently, Tsakos served on the board of directors of the Bank of Cyprus, where the population is the latest victim of the neoliberal system.

A comment on the YouTube video of the blast declares: "This is the start of the world revolution." 

London calling for anti-capitalist resistance

 

ANTI-CAPITALISTS in the UK have issued an international call-out for protests against the G8 summit in June 2013.

It includes a big day of action in central London on Tuesday June 11, in the run-up to the meeting of neoliberal world leaders.

Stop G8 says on its website: "This June the leaders of the G8 (the world’s richest countries) are meeting in Northern Ireland. As economic crisis bites, and the planet burns, the bosses and their politicians are celebrating business as usual. Capitalism: a system that kills, exploits, and degrades the many for the profit of a few.

"On June 10-18 we are organising a week of action and events in London. London is at the heart of global capitalism. The corporations, banks, hedge funds, and billionaires looting our world have names and addresses. They are in the glass towers of the City, and behind unmarked doors in Mayfair and Knightsbridge.

"London is the money-laundering den of dictators, the playground of the super-rich. But London is our city too. A city of hope, resistance, and struggle.

"Capitalism is killing us. Unemployment, cuts, and the rise of fascism in the “West”. Poverty, colonialism, brutal exploitation in the “Third World”. War and famine for profit. Private prisons, police checks, CCTV to keep us scared and controlled. Life robbed of meaning and beauty, our dreams and our dignity for sale.

"Don’t ignore. Don’t wait. For our friends and loved ones, for our communities, for our planet, for everything they’re trying to take from us. The time is now. Let’s come together, and fight. One common struggle."

The timetable so far is:

June 11: Big day of action in Central London.

June 17-18: G8 Summit, Enniskillen, North of Ireland.

June 10-18: Week of actions, talks, meet-ups, films, games, concerts, and more, all over London and beyond.


The group says that it believes that any mobilisation at the summit in Enniskillen needs to be started locally. "The StopG8 network will support a locally organised mobilisation. For now, we are keeping the end of the week free. Stay posted for more information."

Eco-protests halt chemical factory

ECO-PROTESTERS have halted the construction of a chemical factory in China with mass action against the global industrial machine.

Reports the BBC: "On Friday, crowds opposed to the expansion attacked police in the city of Ningbo in Zhejiang province.

"Officials from Ningbo's city government announced on Sunday evening that work on the project would now not go ahead.

"Environmental protests have become more common in China. They come ahead of a once-in-a-decade change of national leaders in Beijing.

"Protesters gathered again in Ningbo on Sunday, marching on the offices of the district government. They are opposed to the expansion of the plant by a subsidiary of the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation."

"The huge growth in China's economy has come at a huge environmental cost. Many Chinese are becoming more environmentally aware and are deeply concerned about pollution, correspondents say."
 
The emergence and success of a powerful grassroots environmental movement in the world's most populated state will surely act as a massive inspiration for others across the world fighting the foul forces of greed and death.

Collapsing capitalism morphs into fascism

HISTORY is unfolding before our eyes, faster and more obviously than ever.

Capitalism morphs into fascism as its illusion of universal prosperity is exposed as the lie it always was.

Armed paramilitary goons in California protect Disneyland from residents of Anaheim angered by the way cops can kill their people with impunity.

And the London Olympics turn into full-blown dress rehearsal for a totalitaran police state, with even cycling now considered a crime if it threatens to disrupt the compulsory mass worship of money and power.

The symbolism is exquisite.

But all the gun-toting, law-passing and media manipulation will not stop the inevitable collapse of the toxic system which is choking this planet to death.

Half of India is brought to a standstill when the power grid fails for the second time in two days - 600 million without power.

And the capitalist dream of new consumer continents is fading, as brand new shopping malls in India and China lie half-empty. 

There can never be a Disneyland planet of 10 billion happy Olympic-loving consumers - the neoliberal quest for endless growth and complete control cannot succeed.

But unfortunately capitalism is not going to end tomorrow. There is a lot more suffering ahead, a lot more misery, war and tears. And struggle as well, to ensure that the society that emerges from the ruins, the day after tomorrow, is one that will restore hope to humanity.

M31 - European Day of Action Against Capitalism

A EUROPEAN Day of Action Against Capitalism has been called for Saturday March 31 2012.

Said a statement on the M31website: "During an international meeting in December 2011 in Frankfurt am Main, several left wing organisations and grassroots unions from Greece, Spain, Poland, Austria and Germany decided to launch a joint effort against capitalist reforms under the current crisis.

"On March 31st, there will be a 'European Day of Action against Capitalism', with simultaneous demonstrations in those countries, labeled 'M31'.

"Groups from other countries are likely to join in, as networking continues. Protests will be directed against neoliberal and undemocratic impositions by the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"The anticapitalist organisations involved want to send a clear signal against further austerity measures, mainly propelled by Germany, and on the backs of workers, the unemployed, students and migrants.

"We protest against nationalist propaganda targeting wageworkers in Southern European countries, and against the EU’s military bulkheading on its borders. Alternatively, organisers of M31 call for transnational solidarity and self-organisation of those affected by further cuts, privatization and capitalist exploitation.

"Up to now, there is no effective transnational solidarity between workers, unions, the unemployed and migrants. If we want this to change, we’ll have to do it ourselves.

"The international day of action in spring preludes a forthcoming European initiative of left wing organisations and grassroots unions, preparing further protests throughout 2012. We invite other emancipatory unions and organisations to join M31.

"Please take note of our Call for Action on www.march31.net. We’ll be happy to answer any request or proposal.

"Let’s get started!"

Keep up to date with the global insurrection - follow VM on Twitter. 

'Corrupt civilization must be destroyed'

 
A CALL for the complete destruction of our valueless and corrupt capitalist civilization has been issued by anarchist blogger Paul Cudenec.

Entitled 'We Anarchangels of Creative Destruction', his article draws on a number of unusual sources, such as the French traditionalist philosopher Rene Guenon.

Cudenec writes: "How many Anarchangels does it take to bring down a civilisation?

 

"More than we are now, that is for sure. But we will swell in size and strength as others flow into our stream and turn it into a mighty river.

 

"Don’t forget that it rains all the time. Life-moisture expended and drawn up into the ether is formed again and joins us here on Earth.

 

"Regeneration means new generations and these are born to play their part in the ending of an age.

 

"The death-power is strong and could not be defeated by the energy of risings past.

 

"But each time we come back stronger and in greater numbers. Each time we know less fear and we understand more fully just how far we have to go.

 

"This will happen again and again until we have won.

 

"Sin miedo. Nothing can stop us."

 

Keep up to date with the global insurrection - follow VM on Twitter.

Rebels attack mining firms

ANTI-CAPITALIST rebels stormed three mining companies in the Philippines on Monday, burning heavy equipment, disarming guards and briefly holding several people.

Forbes.com said this was their biggest attack this year.

The New People's Army guerrillas then ambushed a convoy led by a police general that was responding to the attack in remote Claver township in Surigao del Norte province.

One of the companies that came under attack, Taganito Mining Corp., was forced to temporarily halt operations because of the magnitude of the assault.

Said Minda News: "Around 200 rebels from the NPA’s guerrilla front 16 led by a certain Artem or Doming staged the attack, the military official said.

“'Magulong-magulo. The rebels wearing army uniforms conducted checkpoints leading to Claver town. This created confusion among responding soldiers and policemen,' Osias said.

"He said the rebels manning a checkpoint ambushed a convoy of soldiers responding to the attack today.

"Reports from the police office in Surigao del Norte said the rebels used dump trucks and other heavy equipment to block reinforcements in Sitio Baoy, Barangay San Isidro in Gigaguit town and Barangay Lagdaon in Claver town, all in Surigao del Norte.

"Osias said that aside from torching heavy equipment, the rebels seized thirty-two 9mm pistols from the Taganito Mining Corporation.

"He said three groups of rebels simultaneously attacked the three mining firms located adjacent to each other in Claver, around 9a.m.

"The first group of rebels went to Taganito Mining Corporation in Barangay Taganito killing four guards who offered resistance. They later burned the firm’s guesthouse and seized the 9mm pistols from the guards.

"During the three-hour attack, the rebels also barged into the office of the Platinum Group Mining Corporation in Barangay Cadiano and burned company equipment.

"At around 12:30 pm, another group of rebels proceeded to TH PAL Mining Corporation. Osias said the rebels burned two barges, ten Volvo dump trucks and eight Volvo backhoes."

Revolt spreads in the USA

THE GLOBAL anti-capitalist revolt continues to spread through the heart of the beast itself, the United States of America.

And there are signs that the neoliberal authorities are beginning to panic, with more than 700 people arrested on Brooklyn Bridge, New York.

Reports Reuters: "Occupy Wall Street, a movement spurred by the country’s economic malaise, turned into a national protest over the weekend when mass arrests in New York focused media attention on the protestors and political action spread to other cities.

"In New York, police arrested more than 700 civilians on Saturday for turning the Brooklyn Bridge into a walkway.

"And copycat movements spread to Chicago and Los Angeles, where hundreds of protestors are now camped out in front of City Hall.

"The media largely ignored the protestors when they first began to congregate in lower Manhattan Sept. 17.

"But celebrity visits have helped put the protestors on the map, as has the Twitterverse and pictures of topless protestors demanding jobs.

"In New York, actresses Susan Sarandon and Roseanne Barr have come by, as have rapper Lupe Fiasco and Princeton professor and activist Cornel West."

This video from RT shows the atmosphere at the NY protests.

Peruvian protests halt mining

PROTESTERS in Peru have scored an astonishing victory against the destructive forces of global capitalism.

Reports the Globe and Mail: "As smoke rose from burning tires and torched security vehicles, heavily armed police confronted nearly a thousand angry anti-mining protesters walking the runaway of Juliaca’s airport in southern Peru, near Lake Titicaca.

"One protest leader called for the group to reclaim the airport. Others said it was too dangerous. Then a call came through from the protest leaders in the capital, Lima.

"The government had given into their demands and agreed to revoke the licence for Canadian mining firm Bear Creek to open its Santa Ana silver mine in the area; as well, it halted all new mining concessions in Puno province for 36 months.

"The unrest ended with the agreement Saturday, narrowly averting a repeat of a bloody conflict the day before, when police killed at least five demonstrators at the airport.

"While the breakthrough agreement stopped further bloodshed, it casts doubts on other resource operations in Peru, a nation that relies heavily on foreign investment and receives about 70 per cent of its GDP from the mining industry.

"Peru is South America’s fastest-growing economy, driven by surging commodity prices, but the rural poor have benefited little from mining and complain it contaminates their water and crops.

"The incoming government must balance the interests of international resource firms, whose production is a huge source of national wealth, alongside those of protesters who argue mines have a devastating impact on the environment."

Activists hold up oil work

FOUR eco-campaigners were arrested at Rossport in Eire this week as work was stopped at Shell's compound in Aughoose for over seven hours.

Says a report on UK Indymedia: "At 7am on May 4, two people from the Rossport Solidarity camp locked their arms together inside a plastic and concrete barrel, which had been placed directly in front of the gates of of the Shell compound.

"This was eventually removed by 1pm by the Garda protest removal team. Following the removal of the lock-on, a tractor bringing borehole drilling rig to the Shell compound was stopped and two people climbed up on the tractor cab and the borehole drilling rig.

"The Gardaí who had been mostly calm during the lock-on, became very aggressive and reckless, immediately climbing on the borehole drilling rig and dragging one of the people down in a dangerous and foreful manner.

"The second person who was on the tractor cab was taken down about 30 minutes later again in a dangerous manner by having her hands handcuffed and her legs cable-tied and then being handed down a ladder by Gardaí. None of the Gardaí involved wore any ropes, harnesses or any safety equipment."

Irish union warns of civil unrest

ONE of Ireland's biggest trade unions has called for a campaign of civil disobedience, as the EU/IMF bank bailout is being finalised.

The Workers Solidarity Movement reports that general secretary Eamonn Devoy (pictured) said the trade union movement would not “acquiesce in the ruination of our society”.

It adds: "He also said that we are on the brink of significant civil unrest. The call for mass civil disobedience comes just a week before the ICTU mass mobilisation for November 27th in Dublin.

"The march has been called by ICTU according to David Begg 'to allow ordinary working people to voice their opposition to a policy that could destroy 90,000 more jobs in the short term and the prospect of any long term prosperity'.

"The massive groundswell of anger in the population is pushing the trade union leadership to take an ever more militant public stance.

"Throughout the country people are crying out for opportunity to vent their anger. The Workers Solidarity Movement will be mobilising for this demonstration and the many others occurring now around the country.

"Demands will have to go beyond the resignation of this government and tactics beyond marching if any real change is to come."

Mexican people power defeats Walmart

MEXICAN people have been successfully standing up to the commercial imperialism of the US Walmart empire.

An in-depth Narco News report shows how communities in Cuernavaca and in the Magdalena Contreras area of Mexico City resisted the capitalist invaders.

In the first instance the town council voted to buy up the land earmarked by Walmart and use it for the community, despite legal threats and pressure from the supermarket chain.

Says the report: "A citizen committee made up of neighbors, community members, and environmentalists will be in charge of the cultural center and environment-friendly park project, which will be operational by the end of the year on the same site where Walmart tried to build the store. "

In Mexico City the Broad Front Against the Western Superhighway has joined in the mobilization against Walmart. The construction project of five stores has been stopped.

Says Narco News: "In August the affected neighbors closed a side road to Periférico in Mexico City due to the lack of response from Magdalena Contreras delegation chief Eduardo Hernández.

"Since then the mobilizations were constant, to the point that on Tuesday October 12, residents of the region and members of the Front moved into the area to demand the cancellation of the Walmart projects. The mobilization was sucessful and the construction of the stores has been stopped.

"The areas where the megastores were to be constructed are located near local traditional markets. "

Comments Al Norman, the director of the organization Sprawl Busters: “The victories in Cuernavaca and Mexico City are just a reminder that citizens united can beat the world’s largest retail corporation.”

Bomb attack on 'criminal' bankers

DISSIDENT Republicans in Northern Ireland have bombed a bank, less than a month after they warned they would be doing just that.

The car bomb badly damaged the Ulster Bank in Culmore Road, Derry. Nobody was injured but the attack was widely condemned by the British and Irish establishment.

In September the underground group described bankers as criminals and told The Guardian: "We have a track record of attacking high-profile economic targets and financial institutions such as the City of London.

"The role of bankers and the institutions they serve in financing Britain's colonial and capitalist system has not gone unnoticed.

"Let's not forget that the bankers are the next-door neighbours of the politicians.

"Most people can see the picture: the bankers grease the politicians' palms, the politicians bail out the bankers with public funds, the bankers pay themselves fat bonuses and loan the money back to the public with interest.

"It's essentially a crime spree that benefits a social elite at the expense of many millions of victims."

Peruvian killed in anti-dam protest

ONE man was killed and many others injured in Peru during protests against a proposed dam.

While corporate news sources like Reuters initially claimed the victim, Leoncio Fernández Pacheco, was a bystander and implied his death was accidental, Peruvian media are now admitting he was probably shot by police.

The conflict took place before dawn on Thursday in the town of Espinar, 400 miles (650 km) south of Lima.

The Majes-Siguas II irrigation project will leave Espinar without water, say residents.

They were enraged when the state investment agency awarded a concession on Monday for the project to a private consortium called Angostura-Siguas without listening to their concerns.

Peru's government has encouraged the growth of export-oriented agricultural farms and the petroleum industry.

Last year, three dozen people died in a clash over land in the Amazon jungle where indigenous tribes are resisiting the destruction of their land by oil exploration.

Real IRA 'to target bankers'

BANKERS are on the target list for dissident Irish republicans in the Real IRA, according to a Guardian interview with the underground group.

The Real IRA described bankers as criminals and told the newspaper: "We have a track record of attacking high-profile economic targets and financial institutions such as the City of London.

"The role of bankers and the institutions they serve in financing Britain's colonial and capitalist system has not gone unnoticed.

"Let's not forget that the bankers are the next-door neighbours of the politicians.

"Most people can see the picture: the bankers grease the politicians' palms, the politicians bail out the bankers with public funds, the bankers pay themselves fat bonuses and loan the money back to the public with interest.

"It's essentially a crime spree that benefits a social elite at the expense of many millions of victims."

The Real IRA also told the Guardian that support for them was building and they had turned away hundreds of young disaffected nationalists because they didn't have the capacity to absorb so many members.

"From the point of view of republican communities, there is still a heavily armed British police force that casually uses plastic baton rounds, CS gas and Tasers, carry out house raids, stop and search operations and general harassment.

"There's still a 5,000-strong British army garrison, a new MI5 HQ in Belfast, and a British secretary of state. Republican communities are still subjected to sectarian parades and the right to protest is being met with intimidation and violence."

Food riots on the way - warning

THE WORLD faces an inflationary time bomb as shortages of food threaten to push prices to fresh all-time highs - with the threat of riots, reports The Independent in London.

It says: "A variety of freakish weather conditions across the world has sent the price of staples including wheat, pork, rice, orange juice, coffee, cocoa and tea to fresh highs in recent weeks.

"Yesterday's decision by the Russian government to ban the export of wheat to protect home consumers saw grain prices jump 8 per cent on the day, on what was already a two-year high.

"Meanwhile, the burgeoning demand for foodstuffs and raw material growth in the resurgent economies of China and India has also driven oil, copper and other industrial commodities higher.

"In developing and emerging economies, however, the challenge is in some cases a matter of life and death.

"In these countries food represents a much higher proportion of household budgets than in the West, and they are less able to withstand such shocks. Freakish weather, as in Pakistan now, can also lead to immediate demands for extra food supplies.

"Fears that the population may simply not have enough to eat because of the drought in Russia, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan, one of the world's great 'bread baskets', prompted the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, to sign a decree yesterday prohibiting the export of wheat, barley, rye, corn and flour until the end of the year. 'We must prevent domestic prices from rising, preserve cattle herds and build up reserves,' he said.

"Mr Putin added that ending shipments would be 'appropriate' to restrain domestic food prices, which rose 19 per cent last week alone.

"Conversely, flood conditions in Canada, another major grower, have also reduced supply. World wheat prices are up 92 per cent since early June. Worse could follow: the Russian weather has also threatened the next sowing season, and has harmed other crops such as sugar beet, potatoes and corn."

'Burn parliament!' call from Greek protesters

'BURN Parliament!' was the rallying cry for protesters in Athens during the latest Greek general strike against neoliberal 'austerity' measures.

Said Reuters: "Riot police in Athens fired teargas at a group of black-hooded youths hurling stones and petrol bombs and chanting 'Burn parliament', hours before lawmakers were due to debate the sweeping EU/IMF-mandated pension reform."

Added AFP: "Anti-austerity demonstrations in Greece turned violent on Tuesday as the fifth general strike this year disrupted ferry, air and rail departures and condemned travellers to fresh misery.

"Thousands of people took to the streets to protest cuts to public sector pay and pensions aimed at shoring up Greek finances, burdened by a huge public debt and deficit.

"A confrontation at the main protest in Athens broke out when a group of neo-Nazis approached the demonstration and police later fired tear gas as they were pelted with pieces of broken masonry by a few dozen protesters.

"Police said seven officers were injured in the protest and six people were arrested. Two banks and three shops had their windows smashed, a police statement said.

"In a separate incident, a policeman was taken away by ambulance after being hit by a stone, but authorities said his injuries were not serious.

"While over 15,000 protesters marched in Athens and the northern city of Thessaloniki according to police, several thousand travellers could not sail for the Greek islands from the port of Piraeus due to a Communist blockade.

"At least six scheduled ferry services to the Aegean were cancelled though a strong police guard enabled seven ships to sail earlier, the Coast Guard said.

"Some 500 Communist-affiliated strikers at the harbour also blocked the departure of smaller vessels to islands closer to Athens.

"Greece's main airlines grounded nearly 50 of Tuesday's domestic flights because of the strike while rail access to Athens airport was also impeded. Intercity trains also ran a reduced service along with hospitals and state offices shut down altogether.

"No news was broadcast as journalists joined the action."

Million Italians take to streets

A MILLION people have taken to the streets of Italy to defy the current neo-liberal assault on the peoples of Europe.

Reports the Irish Times: "Italians marched through cities and towns yesterday in a general strike protesting an austerity budget they say bleeds workers but spares the rich.

"The left-leaning CGIL union called the strike in an effort to force prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government to redraft a €25 billion austerity package he says is an essential part of European efforts to save the currency.

"The website of the CGIL, Italy’s largest union, said more than one million people took part in various demonstrations in large and small cities around the country.

"About 100,000 people, according to union estimates, demonstrated in the central city of Bologna, capital of a traditionally leftist area with a strong labour movement.

"In Rome, a long line of protesters blowing whistles and waving red CGIL flags snaked past the Colosseum. Organisers put the turnout at 40,000 people. In Milan, the CGIL said 80,000 attended a rally.

"After months of telling Italians they were immune to a Greek-style debt crisis, Mr Berlusconi’s cabinet in May approved an austerity plan, including cuts to funding for municipalities and freezing of public sector salaries. "

Protest bomb injures Berlin cops

A BOMB has injured a number of police after they repeatedly charged into an anti-austerity demonstration in Berlin.

Reports Earth Times: "An attack which wounded two riot police officers during an anti-government demonstration in Berlin employed a homemade bomb stuffed with shrapnel, German police said on Sunday.

"The blast seriously wounded the two and caused minor injuries to 13 other police at the leftist rally Saturday against Chancellor Angela Merkel's austerity and welfare-cutting plans.

"It had not been disclosed on Saturday that a bomb was involved. A police spokesman said the device had apparently been packed with nails or broken glass or something similar.

"The wounded police were in improving condition, the spokesman said.Three demonstrators were arrested on suspicion of throwing the bomb, but were freed on bail during the night. Organizers claimed 20,000 people attended the anti-capitalist rally."

Reported a post on UK Indymedia: "The Greek protest wave has finally hit Germany. Scuffles broke out this Saturday in two major German cities after riot police attacked protest marchers.

"50.000 angry trade unionists, leftists and anarchists had taken to the streets against chancellor Merkel's social cuts package. The cuts are being touted as Germany's biggest austerity drive since World War Two.

"In order to stem the crisis in the EU and save the single currency Merkel's government wants to cut 30 billion euros ($36.11 billion) over the next four years in welfare, mainly from unemployment benefits, and axe thousands of federal government jobs.

"In Berlin riot police repeatedly charged into the protest march, and in Stuttgart a party leader of the socialdemcratic SPD had to be saved by police from angry protesters. As he tried to deliver a speech at the rally hundreds of marchers shouted the politician dówn and pelted him with bottles, sticks, eggs and bananas.

"The two rallies on Saturday are to be followed by a serious of protests in smaller towns in the next weeks, and a European day of action is to follow soon."