Over the weekend of March 15-16 we have witnessed the biggest mass demonstrations seen
in Spain for years. Several demonstrations have been held in Barcelona against the EU
summit that was being held there. On Thursday about 200,000 trade unionists marched and on
Saturday half a million people took to the streets. These were protests against bourgeois policies in the
whole of Europe, and against capitalist globalisation. This is an eye-witness account of the
dramatic events that took place in Barcelona.
The "Battle in Seattle" announced to the world that even in the "belly of the beast",
there is outright opposition to the policies of imperialism. Around the world, subsequent
meetings of the IMF, World Bank, G8, and NATO have been met with a rising tide of
militant protest and increasingly ruthless repression by the ruling class. But the attacks
of September 11 cast a shadow over the movement in the US - anyone voicing opposition to
the policies of imperialism was considered unpatriotic and even a terrorist - "you're
either with us or against us!" Now, on April 20, the first major protest event against
the "war on terror" is being held in Washington, DC. The WIL and YFIS will
be there. Download and print our A20 flyer and meet us in DC!
The anti-war mobilizations in Washington DC, San Francisco, and elsewhere were the first mass protests against government policy since September 11. Many groups were represented, but all of them had one thing in common - opposition to the so-called War on Terrorism. The anti-globalization, anti-war, and labor movements need to unite under a working-class leadership to fight for a socialist solution to the problems facing working people in the US and internationally.