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Home | Friday 5th June 2009 | Issue 678

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THE RICH GET RICHTER

On July 7th-10th the G8 Summit circus dares to return to Italy, eight years after the debacle of Genoa 2001 which saw the death of protester Carlo Giuliani (See SchNEWS 314, 315). This year the venue has been changed at the last minute from the Sardinian island of La Maddalena to the rubble-strewn epicentre of this April’s earthquake, the town of L’Aquila , 120km north-east of Rome, in the region of Abruzzo. Rome will also host parts of the summit. The actual venue of the meeting in L’Aquila is Coppito, the largest police academy in the country. But oh the irony of putting the summit and it’s entourage of 5,000 in the midst of a disaster area where tens of thousands are still in refugee-style camps. And it’s still getting the occasional tremor - so it could go off again (here's hoping). Apparently the change of location is to halve the security bill.

Another reason to move the summit came after Berlusconi claimed that “I don’t believe that anti-globalists will have the courage to organize violent demonstrations in this earthquake-stricken region”. Which is ridiculous because left and activist groups have been in this area since the earthquake in L’Aquila killed 300 and made 30,000 homeless on April 6th 2009, providing food kitchens, infrastructure and aid. With Berlusconi’s wobbling government looking more vulnerable than ever in the wake of his dalliances with teenage glamour girls, what better time to protest?

* See also http://globalisenot.blogspot.com and www.gipfelsoli.org/Multilanguage


Keywords: anti-globalisation, g8, italy, l’aquila, summit hopping


 

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