Posted on 04/24/2004 7:45:07 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AP) - Banging buckets and the most agile doing cartwheels, protesters rallied Saturday against trade deals, Third World debt and war, taking those messages and more to the streets in numbers diminished from past years.
Peaceful and festive, a crowd of about 1,000 marched past the offices of multinational corporations they hold responsible for exploiting the poor, chanting "shame, shame" along the way.
The demonstrations are a spring ritual tied to the meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and, as always, the causes were varied. Protesters came to shout against the U.S. occupation of Iraq, sweatshop labor abroad, the policies of President Bush and much else.
"It's important to send a message in opposition to the poverty and misery that institutions like the World Bank and IMF force around the world," said David Thurston, 25, of New York City, an organizer from the International Socialist Organization.
"But it's also critical to connect opposition to corporate greed with the movement against the war, for abortion rights and for gay marriage."
Demonstrators came together in brilliant sunshine and to the sounds of folk music. Police, accustomed to huge crowds and tense confrontations in past anti-globalization and anti-war protests, came out in strength but reported little trouble.
Police arrested one protester for allegedly shooting tacks at an officer with a slingshot and another for scratching cars with a key.
"There are always a few people in the crowd who cause a problem or two, but the majority of people who come to protest are not about that sort of thing," said Police Chief Charles Ramsey. "They just want to have their voices heard."
Scores of police behind 5-foot-high steel barricades kept the crowd well away from the World Bank and IMF, where finance ministers were meeting, when the parade reached that area.
Protesters paraded along more than 15 city blocks, pausing outside offices of construction company Bechtel and the oil-services giant Halliburton Co. Both are corporate interests that activists said are enriching themselves at the expense of the poor in Iraq and other countries.
One banner read, "Free Trade Means Sweatshop Labor." Another sign said, "IMF: You're Fired." Several people carried signs opposing the American presence in Iraq.
Demonstrators drove up the noise level by banging on white plastic buckets, metal pots and pans and at least one wok.
Greg Pason of Rochelle Park, N.J., brought his 10-year-old son Trevor to show him a good time and because he couldn't get a baby sitter. "We want to oppose the World Bank and their loaning policies, speak up for immigrants' rights and indigenous peoples' rights - all the things that are avoided in the international trade agreements," he said.
Robert Weissman of Mobilization for Global Justice, a protest sponsor, said it has been harder to gather a huge anti-globalization crowd since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
"It's changed the focus of American politics so everyday working people, the media and the protesters look to a different set of issues," he said. "We really have the war on terrorism dominating the political discourse over the last 2 1/2 years."
A separate and much larger protest was coming together Sunday, in favor of abortion rights.
A protester holds an anti-corporate flag near the White House during a march that wound past the World Bank (news - web sites) and IMF (news - web sites) headquarters Saturday, April 24, 2004, during the 2004 annual spring meetings. The crowd rallied against trade deals, Third World debt and war, the U.S. occupation of Iraq (news - web sites), sweat shop labor abroad and the policies of President Bush (news - web sites). (AP Photos/Gerald Herbert)
A protestor marches near the World Bank (news - web sites) and IMF (news - web sites) headquarters in downtown Washington Saturday, April 24, 2004, during the IMF and World Bank 2004 annual spring meetings. Protestors rallied against trade deals, third world debt and war, the U.S. ocupation of Iraq (news - web sites), sweat shop labour abroad and the policies of President Bush (news - web sites). (AP Photos/Evan Vucci)
Samir Duran, left, and Jesse Haveh, carring a Soviet flag, protest near the World Bank (news - web sites) and IMF (news - web sites) headquarters in downtown Washington Saturday, April 24, 2004, during the 2004 annual spring meetings. They rallied against trade deals, Third World debt and war, the U.S. ocupation of Iraq (news - web sites), sweat shop labor abroad and the policies of President Bush (news - web sites). (AP Photos/Evan Vucci)
Protestors file down a street near the World Bank (news - web sites) and IMF (news - web sites) headquarters in downtown Washington Saturday, April 24, 2004, during the 2004 annual spring meetings. The crowd rallied against trade deals, Third World debt and war, the U.S. occupation of Iraq (news - web sites), sweat shop labor abroad and the policies of President Bush (news - web sites). (AP Photos/Lawrence Jackson)
"It's changed the focus of American politics so everyday working people, the media and the protesters look to a different set of issues," he said. "We really have the war on terrorism dominating the political discourse over the last 2 1/2 years."
A separate and much larger protest was coming together Sunday, in favor of abortion rights.
It's all about survival.. nothing less.. nothing else
These left wing kooks never seem to be able to think past their own genitals. Can't they ever think about anything other than their own self gratification? There's a whole world out there!!!!
My kids used to like doing that when they were toddlers, too. Like minds play alike.
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