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From: "SchNEWS"
To: "SchNEWS Subscribers"
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 22:05:05 +0000
Subject: SchNEWS 153/154, 6th February 1998 (Part 1 of 2)
Reply-to: schnews@brighton.co.uk

Earth First in build up to MAI-DAY

FRIDAY 13th MAI HORROR SHOW @ HOUSE OF COMMONS

IT'S WAR!... ON THE KILLER CORPORATIONS

Fifteen masked-up environmentalists spent an hour on Sunday sipping tea on the lawn at the Sussex home of the boss of one of the world's biggest multinationals.

Mark Moody-Stuart, Group Managing Director of Royal Dutch Shell, and his wife Judy, were startled to find protesters scrambling on their roof and in the front garden of `Little Blackbrook' in Hassocks, where they unfurled ten-foot banners proclaiming "MURDERERS" and "EARTH FIRST!".

By the time police arrived after a quarter of an hour, Mrs Moody-Stuart was serving refreshments as members of South Downs Earth First! grilled her husband about the meeting of 1,000 killer corporations in Davos, Switzerland, which ended on Tuesday. Simultaneous actions took place around the globe in Colombia, Germany, Haiti, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, South Korea, Spain and the USA. Nearly 200 organisations from 54 countries, with a combined membership of 20 million, have released the Declaration against the Globalisers of Misery.

The playwright Harold Pinter, and Ken Loach, the film director, were among the signaturies denouncing "the accelerating centralisation of political and economic power and the shift to unaccountable and undemocratic institutions".

One EF!er told SchNEWS: "This is direct democracy in action. Injustice isn't anonymous, it has names and addresses. It was the only chance we had to literally bring home the reality of the destruction that giant corporations like Shell inflict upon indigenous people across the globe."

White-haired Moody-Stuart, 57, told the protesters: "I don't really want a `MURDERERS' banner on my roof, could you take it down? I'm getting on a bit and it'd benefit us both - you could use it at the next AGM!"

It marks the build up to MAI-DAY, when the corporations finally take over the world (see SchNEWS 141) with the signing of the Mulilateral Agreement on Investment, due in May. And this time: ITS WAR! This monster free trade treaty will give multinationals the right to sue national governments, with greater political right than any soverign nation. It's already happened in Canada under a three-country treaty, NAFTA, where the Ethyl Corp. Of America is suing the Canadian government for $367M for trying to ban the use of MMT, a controversial gasoline additive it produces in Ottawa. It wants "immediate compensation for imposing legislation which hiders it's operations [profit]."

While the UK press is silent, activists in Oxford set up a DIY polling booth - a people's referendum - last month to get people to vote for or against the treaty. Once they learned details 99% voted NO.The final negotiations take place in Paris between the world's richest 29 countries on February 16-20th. Oxford City Council passed a motion denouncing the treaty in a letter to the DTi. Another referedum will be held tomorrow, and the idea is being repeated in Reading and St Andrews. To set one up call Corporate Watch 01865 791391. A national action has been called for Friday 13th at the House of Commons, with an appropriate `horror' theme. Contact the World Development Movement on 0171 737 6215.

ACTION!

On Feb 23-25th, 600 activists from People's Global Action will meet in Geneva for the first conference of a new world-wide co-ordination of resistance to the global market and the MAI. SchNEWS'll be there - why not come too?

* Playfair Europe!, Oviedo, Pedro Masaveu 1 10 E 33007 Oviedo, Spain +34 85241121
* People's Global Action: http://www.agp.org/
* Public Citizen: http://www.citizen.org/

E-maul the Counter Globalisation Network: CGN@avocados.globalnet.co.uk

* GLOBAL STREET PARTY, May 16th, everywhere. Contact RTS 0171 281 4621

* PEOPLE'S SUMMIT, May 15th-17th, Birmingham, against the G8 meeting 0121 632 6909

* RECLAIM EUROPE!, June 14-16th, Cardiff, against EuroSummit '98, the finale of Britain's six-month UK presidency.


road protests 1998   |   road protests (current)   |   movement links