[Onthebarricades] Anti-capitalist and anti-neoliberal protests, Dec-Jan 07/08

[Andy]

 *  CHIAPAS:  Other Campaign mobilises after paramilitary aggressions
*  CHIAPAS:  Zapatista forum defies capitalism
*  SOUTH KOREA:  Protesters rally against US free trade deal, battle police
*  HUNGARY:  Strikes, protests over neoliberal "reforms"; tens of thousands 
rally
*  ITALY:  Berlusconi hit by egg during student protest
*  RUSSIA:  Protesters denounce luxury by tossing rotten eggs
*  MEXICO:  Farmers form human wall to protest trade deal with US
*  COSTA RICA:  Mass protests against signing of CAFTA trade deal with US
                              "Why we reject CAFTA" (extended commentary by 
Costa Rican activist)
*  GREECE:  Protests mark anniversary of coup, riot cops shield US embassy
*  ECUADOR:  Oil protest grips peripheral province; protesters occupy oil 
wells, block roads
*  PHILIPPINES:  Protesters storm US Embassy in protests over military 
impunity
*  PERU:  Miners blockade road during strike
*  NIGERIA:  Victims of pharma company stage protest in courthouse
*  INDIA:  Youth group stages protest over earlier repression of 
anti-multinational movement
*  INDIA:  Unrest and protests as Meghalaya privatises power supply
*  UGANDA:  Protest over failure of Commonwealth targets summit

http://www.narconews.com/Issue48/article2934.html

The Other Campaign Mobilizes in Response to Aggressions Against the 
Zapatistas of Bolom Ajaw
Authorities, Working Through an Alleged Paramilitary Group, Plan to 
"Relocate" the Inhabitants; Civil Groups Called to Boycott Tourism of the 
Agua Azul Falls

By Hermann Bellinghausen
La Jornada

December 13, 2007

Click here for translations of previous stories in La Jornada on the Bolom 
Ajaw conflict

In view of the tension created by the aggressions of Institutional 
Revolutionary Party (PRI)-affiliated armed groups against the Zapatista 
community Bolom Ajaw in the region of the Agua Azul river, which has been 
used for decades as a resort and tourist center, civil organizations and 
members of the Other Campaign in Chiapas have installed an observation camp 
in the threatened community.

The Center for Political Analysis and Social and Economic Investigations 
(CAPISE) has called on international civil society and organizations to 
address their ministries or Departments of tourism and the travel agencies 
in their countries, to "inform them about the incidents at the Agua Azul 
waterfall and to carry out a campaign with the demand: No visits to the Agua 
Azul Cascades, until the aggressions and eviction threats against the 
families of the community Bolom Ajaw have stopped!"

The call proposes that organizations in Mexico and other countries that heed 
the call send protest letters to President Felipe Calderón, tourism minister 
Rodolfo Elizondo Torres and the government secretary Francisco Ramírez 
Acuña.

CAPISE also calls for public demonstrations "against the aggressions to 
which the inhabitants of Bolom Ajaw and the Zapatista communities are 
subjected, to visit Mexican travel agencies and inform them about the 
incidents in Agua Azul," and to invite them to not send tourists to the 
waterfall.

"In view of the serious situation to which the Zapatista families are 
subjected, in the context of total impunity with which the OPDDIC members of 
the Ejido Agua Azul are operating," a special "Land and Territory 
Observation Brigade" (BEOTT in its Spanish initials) departed to Bolom Ajaw 
on November 28, to "offer assistance to the women, men, children and the 
elderly of the community Bolom Ajaw."

On the same day Chiapas governor Juan Sabines Guerrero requested the Office 
of the General Attorney of the Republic (PGR) to investigate the 
denunciations against the OPDDIC in Bolom Ajaw and the Ejido Agua Azul. 
Nevertheless, on November 29 in the afternoon, an armed group of OPDDIC 
members fired repeatedly on the Zapatista community, from a distance of 200 
and 150 meters. The shots were fired mainly with large caliber weapons, as 
reported by the Good Government Junta of Morelia and later confirmed by the 
BEOTT.

On the morning of November 30 a blue-and-white helicopter of the state 
Public Security agency circled for 15 minutes over the community Bolom Ajaw 
and its cultivated fields.

The community has identified more than 20 persons from Agua Azul who have 
participated in the recent shootings against the unarmed population of Bolom 
Ajaw. Among them are Jerónimo Urbina López and Juan Urbina López, Jeremías 
López Hernández, Salomón Moreno Estrada, Miguel Silvano Hernández, Juan 
García, Marcos López Moreno, Manuel, Santiago and Adolfo Cruz López.

The "agrarian dispute" (according to all indications artificially 
instigated) lodged by the OPDDIC on the Agua Azul river against Bolom Ajaw 
concerns the lands recovered by Zapatista support bases, which previously to 
the rebellion of 1994 belonged to a private estate. The belligerence of the 
OPDDIC comes along with pressure from the National Commission of Protected 
Natural Areas, the Secretariat of Government of Chiapas, the Palenque Public 
Prosecutor's Office and tourism officials - together constituting, if one 
takes a good look, a contradictory salad of interests.

Are these PRI-affiliated campesinos wishing to extend their fields, federal 
agencies trying to "conserve" an area until now well-preserved and almost 
untouched, or entrepreneurial and governmental interests seeking to expand 
the tourism "supply" in these places of great beauty, where waterfalls and 
forests are still waiting to be exploited by consumerism and services?

In any case, as repeatedly indicated, the federal, state and municipal 
authorities which have intervened in certain moments of the presumed 
conflict have expressed to the inhabitants of Bolom Ajaw directly, and on 
some occasions to the CAPISE, their interest to "relocate" the Zapatista 
grassroots communities - that is, to displace them.

Until now, the instrument to achieve this has been the OPDDIC, considered a 
paramilitary group in several indigenous regions in the Lacandon Jungle and 
the northern zone, where it is also assaulting and threatening Zapatista 
communities in the autonomous municipalities San Manuel, Francisco Gómez, 
Olga Isabel, 17 de Noviembre, La Paz and Ricardo Flores Magón. In addition, 
under the same name of OPDDIC, at the end of September an alleged 
paramilitary group released death threats against the autonomous council of 
San Andrés Sakamch'én de los Pobres, in Los Altos.

Published in La Jornada in Spanish, December 6, 2007

http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B9B5B0133-C59C-43B4-A191-B5B21A93ADB6%7D)&language=EN

Mexico Forum Defeats Capitalism

Mexico, Dec 14 (Prensa Latina) An international forum, organized by the 
Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) in the Mexican state of Chiapas, 
advocated Friday for anti-systemic alliances to defeat capitalism.

The meeting was attended by over 300 delegates from several countries, among 
them academics Pablo Gonzalez Casanova and art critic John Berger, US 
historian Immanuel Wallerstein, writer Hector Aguilar, and "Contrahistorias" 
magazine director Carlos Aguirre.

EZLN chief deputy commander Marcos said that real transformations of a 
society in a historic moment are those aimed against the system as a whole, 
thus the importance of anti-systemic movements.

Wallerstein stated the need of an offensive anti-systemic alliance and 
efficient campaign worldwide.

The EZLN, he noted, must participate in the next edition of the World Social 
Forum to be run in January 2009, which must analyze indigenous problems in 
the world.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=30663&sectionid=351020405

S. Koreans rally to protest US deal
Sun, 11 Nov 2007 14:57:31

Thousands of South Korean demonstrators have taken to the streets in protest 
at a trade agreement between their country and the US.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Seoul on Nov. 11 to protest 
the recently reached free trade agreement between South Korea and the United 
States and to demand better working conditions for irregular employees. The 
massive rally, which police called illegal, caused severe traffic congestion 
in the center of the capital city throughout the day.

The angry farmers and workers took to the streets of the capital, demanding 
that a free trade agreement between their country and the United States be 
scrapped, AP television reported on Sunday.

"We will block the FTA ratification because the US-Korea FTA would deepen 
the polarization of South Korea," said Woo Moon-sook, a spokeswoman for the 
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of organizers of the rally near 
Seoul City Hall.

The protesters occupied the 16-lane road and chanted slogans against the 
free trade deal but no major clashes with riot police were reported.

Organizers claimed some 50,000 people participated in the protest, while 
police estimated there were 20,000 demonstrators.

Seoul and Washington forged their deal in April, concluding months of tough 
negotiations to lower or eliminate tariffs and other trade barriers on a 
wide range of industries and services. The two sides signed the accord in 
June but it must be endorsed by legislatures in both capitals before it goes 
into effect.

The deal is the largest for the US since the North American Free Trade 
Agreement more than a decade ago, and the largest ever for South Korea.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iwZu_ki4nh5AtsmdjgkVccjVPYrA

South Korean protesters(R) fight with the riot police

SKorean police, protesters clash in rally
Nov 11, 2007
SEOUL (AFP) - South Korean demonstrators and riot police clashed in downtown 
Seoul Sunday as tens of thousands of anti-American protesters were blocked 
from marching to the US embassy after an unauthorised rally.
The violence erupted when 20,000 riot police confronted the same number of 
demonstrators rallying against a free-trade pact with the United States and 
South Korean troops joining US-led forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Having been blocked from marching to the US embassy, hundreds of angry 
protesters smashed the windows of police buses, wielded wooden sticks and 
hurled rocks at riot police.
Police reacted with batons, shields and water cannons to stifle the rioters.
Both sides exchanged kicks and punches, but no serious injuries were 
immediately reported.
Police rounded up dozens of violent protesters, a Seoul metropolitan police 
agency spokesman said, adding they were still compiling arrest figures.
The agency said it sent 23,000 police and 600 buses to stop the massive 
demonstration in the capital that had been banned by the government.
Civic and labour organisations had expected about 50,000 people to turn up 
for the rally, which also called for better working conditions for temporary 
workers, but police said the actual turnout was 20,000.
Demonstrators wanted to rally at the City Hall plaza and march a block 
towards the US embassy, but police blocked them from reaching the area.
A hardcore 2,000 demonstrators occupied parts of the 16-lane main boulevard 
in Seoul to hold a candle-lit vigil in the evening, though most returned 
home in the afternoon.
The ministers of home, justice, transportation and labour issued a joint 
statement Saturday banning the rally, which comes at a politically sensitive 
time ahead of the December presidential election.
It warned that police would deal "sternly" with any illegal or violent acts.
Yonhap news agency said police had blocked farmers from being bussed to 
Seoul from towns and villages.
Farmers and activists have sometimes violently protested the trade deal with 
the US, which now must be ratified by lawmakers, but most opinion polls show 
a majority of South Koreans favour it.
The United States and South Korea signed the free trade pact in June 
following 10 months of intense negotiations, but little progress has been 
reported on either side to get the deal ratified.
The Democrat-led Congress has indicated it may not approve the deal amid 
concerns from US carmakers and stockbreeders who believe it fails to open 
the Korean markets fully.
South Korea is the US's seventh-largest trade partner, with bilateral 
commerce last year worth 78 billion dollars. Some studies show this could 
rise by up to 20 billion dollars in coming years under a free trade regime.
Some see the free trade pact strengthening the military alliance, which 
dates back to the 1950-1953 Korean War.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=3497666

Thousands protest in South Korea over free trade deal
THOUSANDS of South Korean farmers and workers clashed with riot police 
yesterday at a massive rally against a free trade deal with the United 
States.
The clash began when the protesters tried to break through a barricade 
blocking the road to the US embassy in Seoul. Police fired water cannon to 
halt the protesters.

>From among the crowd of between 20,000 and 50,000, some demonstrators threw 
stones and used sticks to hit riot police. About 100 people were arrested, 
while ten police officers and 50 demonstrators were hurt.

South Korean farmers are worried that the deal will see US produce pour into 
the country, threatening their livelihoods.

The full article contains 118 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Last Updated: 11 November 2007 11:13 PM

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSL2168898720071121

Hungarians strike and protest against economic reforms
Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:47pm EST
By Sandor Peto and Andras Gergely
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Thousands of anti-government protesters rallied outside 
Hungary's parliament on Wednesday after 10,000 workers staged strikes to try 
to halt Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's economic reforms.
Led by a six-hour stoppage by the powerful railway union, strikers blocked 
roads, halted trains and two bus lines, closed Budapest's airport and shut 
some schools. But parallel protests were smaller than expected and the 
government did not budge.
The strikes and demonstrations were backed by the main opposition Fidesz 
party, whose leader Viktor Orban said earlier this week that the ruling 
coalition, led by Gyurcsany's Socialists, could be forced out in six to nine 
months.
"I hate Gyurcsany. The more of us turn up, the stronger the hope is that 
there will be some change," Andras Mezei, 65, told Reuters outside 
parliament.
Unlike in France and Germany where unions have real muscle, Hungarian 
workers are unlikely to seriously challenge economic reforms, though 
Socialist deputies who have seen their party's poll ratings fall to as low 
as 15 percent have voiced concern.
The rail workers protested against rural line closures at state rail firm 
MAV, which loses hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and smaller unions 
aimed to halt health and pension reforms. But only two of the six main union 
groupings took part.
"The unions remain divided along political lines and their confidence rating 
within the society is relatively low," said Attila Gyulai, an analyst at 
consultancy Political Capital.
News agency MTI estimated the Budapest protest drew 5,000 people, versus up 
to 50,000 projected earlier by media. The government said that showed the 
strikes lacked support.

http://www.agi.it/italy/news/200712212031-cro-ren0090-art.html

BERLUSCONI HIT BY AN EGG DURING PROTEST

(AGI) - Rome, Dec. 21 - Silvio Berlusconi was hit by an egg during a protest 
staged by students who 'greeted' him in Cinecitta'. One of Berlusconi's 
supporters explained to the press that he managed to intercept the egg with 
his hand, thus limiting the damage to his leader's jacket. In any event, at 
the end of the gathering the right sleeve of Berlusconi's suit still showed 
traces of the impact. Protesters did not limit themselves to hurling eggs 
and singing lewd songs against Silvio Berlusconi since, according to some 
witnesses, they also allegedly hurled some coins and at least one bolt.

http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11938549

Dec 27 2007 1:35PM
Anti-globalists to protest against luxury by tossing rotten eggs at Hummer

ST. PETERSBURG. Dec 27 (Interfax) - Anti-globalists will hold a protest 
against luxury on Pionerskaya Square in St. Petersburg on Thursday.

"We will hold a number of actions, including one on December 27. We have 
taken notice of a Hummer that is often parked near Pionerskaya Square and 
decided to toss tomatoes and rotten eggs at it. The Hummer owner agreed with 
our reasons. He even said he was ready to sell his Hummer and donate the 
money to an orphanage," the movement said.

In the opinion of the movement, their action will prove that luxury is 
senseless.

http://mathaba.net/news/?x=576308

Mexican farmers to form human wall on border with U.S. to protest free trade 
accord
Posted: 2007/12/31
From: Mathaba

            Mexican farmers and social groups will form a human wall on the 
country's border with the United States on Jan. 1 to protest against the 
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Latin American news agency 
reported Saturday.


MEXICO CITY, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- "The human wall will be built on the 
Cordoba-Americas International Bridge in Ciudad Juarez, state of Chihuahua, 
to criticize the NAFTA policies on agricultural products," said the Farmers' 
Democratic Front.

"We will continue to organize protests against the NAFTA, which strives to 
lift tariffs for U.S. and Canadian exports of corn, beans, sugar and powder 
milk," it said.

"The NAFTA can be renegotiated if Mexico follows the rules of the World 
Trade Organization and leaves basic household items out of the trade 
treaties," it added.

"We have to show political will and popular commitment" to win the battle, 
said the group.

http://www.periodico26.cu/english/news_world/c.rica112207.htm

Costa Rican President Arias Signs CAFTA Amid Protest
SAN JOSE.- The CAFTA-DR free trade pact between the Central American 
countries, the Dominican Republic and the Unites States was signed into law 
in Costa Rica on Wednesday amid protests and a large military deployment.
President Oscar Arias signed CAFTA-DR into law at the presidency while 
hundreds of demonstrators surrounded the building in protest, reported the 
La Nacion newspaper. The issue is still immersed in controversy after a 
narrow victory for the free trade agreement in an October 7 referendum.
Troops were deployed in a circle 100 meters from the presidential 
headquarters to contain protestors and in fear of a repeat of the huge 
protests that preceded the CAFTA-DR referendum, reported Prensa Latina.
The free trade treaty is scheduled to take effect in March 2008, however for 
that to happen the legislature must first pass 12 complementary laws.

http://www.radiofeminista.net/mar07/notas/CAFTA_ingles.htm

Costa Rica: Why We Reject CAFTA

by Eva Carazo Vargas | March 8, 2007
from Americas Program, International Relations Center (IRC) 
americas.irc-online.org

On Feb. 26, tens of thousands of Costa Ricans took to the streets in a 
demonstration to block ratification of the free trade agreement and reject 
approval to implement legislation demanded by the United States. Costa Rica 
is the only country included in the Free Trade Agreement between the United 
States, Central America, and the Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR) that has not 
yet ratified the agreement. A broad grassroots movement in the country is 
trying to make sure it stays that way.

(Photo by FIRE)Following a brief negotiation in 2003, the governments of 
Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Costa Rica (and later the 
Dominican Republic) signed a free trade agreement with the United States. 
The CAFTA-DR, as it is known by its initials, is part of the Bush 
administration's strategy to bilaterally impose a dependent free-trade 
regime, given its failure to achieve its objectives in multilateral forums 
such as the World Trade Organization or the Free Trade Area of the Americas 
(FTAA).

Costa Rica's adherence to CAFTA has detonated a huge discussion throughout 
the country and catalyzed a diverse and growing grassroots movement that 
questions the essence of the economic model promoted by the North, and seeks 
to open doors to a more congruent model of development-one that's consistent 
with the history of Costa Rica and the needs of the countries of the South. 
Given the staunch support for CAFTA coming from the federal government, 
which seeks to impose the agreement at all costs, the year 2007 promises to 
be a defining moment for the future of this Central American nation.
International solidarity is very important for the struggle that the Costa 
Rican popular social movements are carrying on. A few ways you can help:
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
·         Send messages to Legislative representatives about the negative 
impacts of Free Trade Agreements. Their addresses can be found at: 
www.asamblea.go.cr.
·         Send messages to Oscar Arias, Costa Rica's president. In addition 
to the negative aspects of FTAs it is important to mention the irony of a 
Nobel Peace Prize winner causing a social conflict so traumatic for the 
country. Write to: info at casapres.go.cr.
·         Protest at the Costa Rican Embassy in your country, especially on 
dates when protests occur in Costa Rica.
·         Please send a copy of any letters sent to the National 
Coordination of the Struggle Against the FTA at: 
redcnlcontratlc at racsa.co.cr, gracielabmar at yahoo.com and 
bloqueverdeculturacampesinos at gmail.com. If you would like to receive more 
information about the movement's actions, request it from the same email 
addresses.

Our Point of Departure
Contrary to most Latin American countries, where the Washington Consensus 
was applied nearly to the letter, in Costa Rica public investment in social 
services and strategic sectors of the economy has been a determining factor 
in achieving a relatively higher quality of life compared to its neighbors. 
We are talking about a country with no army that-when much of Central 
America was fighting civil wars for basic human rights-invested instead in 
healthcare, insurance, and education; and in strategic infrastructure like 
energy and telecommunications.
As a result, Costa Rica's human development index is 0.838, occupying 47th 
place worldwide. The poverty level has remained around 20% for the last 15 
years, without decreasing but also without significant increases. Illiteracy 
is scarcely 7.4%, open unemployment hovers around 6%, and health insurance 
covers approximately 82% of the population. A full 75.7% of the population 
has access to drinking water, and 98.3% to electricity. Telephone services 
reach 60% of Costa Ricans and Internet serves the far corners of the nation. 
In fact, the country has some of the lowest rates on the continent for 
electricity, telephone, mobile phone service, and Internet.
This has been possible thanks to a Constitutional Social state, based on 
constitutional obligations to guarantee that certain strategic services be 
provided by the government in the logic of solidarity and ample 
coverage-independently of the buying power of families.

"Meso-Americans in resistance for a dignified life"
(photo by FIRE)However, the structural adjustment programs of the 80s marked 
the beginning of a sharp turn in this model. Over the last 25 years-and in 
spite of the negative effects for the majority of the population-the 
neoliberal project has been gaining ground. The government has played a 
major role in implementing these changes, steadily decreasing its 
intervention in the national economy, and ceding space to the "free market" 
as the regulator of not only economic but also social, political, and 
cultural relations.

This tendency has resulted in a serious deterioration of public 
institutions, as government spending limits dry up public investment, and 
corruption and impunity have grown. There is now enormous pressure to 
transfer remaining activities to the private sector. The rationale is that 
the public sector is inefficient and needs private initiative to take direct 
charge of services that up to now have been in the hands of the state as 
administrator of the collective interest.
The changes in the economic model over the past years have also resulted in 
an almost exclusive focus on exports and foreign investment as dynamic 
mechanisms of the economy, to the detriment of public policies directed 
toward small and medium businesses, or the growth of the domestic market. 
However, this model has developed alongside growing unemployment and has 
demonstrated its inability to generate or distribute wealth, since the 
export-economy produces almost no fiscal productive chains or social 
linkages to the national economy as a whole.
Concentration of wealth in the country has also been on the rise: Between 
1988 and 2005, the income of the poorest 20% of the population fell 13.9%, 
and that of the top 20% increased 67.9%. As for employment, the informal 
sector still experiences the largest growth each year, creating 65% of all 
new jobs in 2005. The replacement of a strong formal economy labor pool with 
a burgeoning informal economy leads to erosion in working conditions for the 
majority of workers in the country. In this context, the FTA with the United 
States expresses the consolidation of a tendency that is not new and that 
has shown itself to have enormous limitations in generating a sustainable, 
solidarity-based, and fair system. The FTA will mandate that these negative 
tendencies become permanent and practically the only permitted route to 
"development."
Negotiating the Future
The negotiations on the FTA took place in nine rounds along with the other 
Central American countries in 2003, and one additional round in 2004 just 
between Costa Rica and the United States. They were led by a team of 
professionals from the Ministry of Foreign Commerce (Comex) with close ties 
to corporate interests. It later came to light that several of the Costa 
Rican government's negotiators received their salaries from the Costa 
Rica-United States Foundation (CR-USA)-an agency specially created to 
channel funds from USAID (the U.S. Agency for International Development). 
The CR-USA Foundation administers money from the U.S. government and spent 
US$901,460 to support the Costa Rican FTA negotiating team.2 The country 
deposited a strategic negotiation in the hands of a staff paid for by the 
other side.
This stage was not easy. From the beginning, various sectors demanded the 
right to participate in the definition at least of the minimum floors or 
maximum ceilings for the negotiations, and to be allowed to observe and 
monitor the process. Their request was denied and instead Comex established 
a "consultation" mechanism through which it received hundreds of 
recommendations, without committing definitively to any. The contents and 
specific texts of the rounds of negotiation were officially declared 
confidential, "to not divulge national strategy." Even congressional 
representatives who demanded access to official texts were denied them.
Costa Ricans only found out about the contents of the agreement when the FTA 
had already been signed. Even then, they did not have access to the 
documentation corresponding to the negotiation process-government officials 
claimed it had "been lost" with the change in ministries from the previous 
administration.
Then-president Abel Pacheco insisted from the beginning of the FTA 
negotiations that they would not include publicly owned insurance and 
telecommunications companies. However, both sectors were opened up to "free" 
competition in the last round of negotiations. In that round Costa Rica also 
committed to subscribe to the UPOV-91 agreement, which establishes private 
intellectual property rights on plants, and that also was originally to be 
excluded from negotiations, according to official documents.
Throughout the year, the Costa Rican people were kept in the dark about the 
important and definitive decisions that a small group of government 
officials was making on their behalf. In January of 2004 the FTA 
negotiations were concluded and the agreement was signed by the president 
that August. Pacheco then formed a commission of prominent citizens to 
analyze the signed text. The commission concluded that the FTA was neither 
positive nor negative in itself, but also that it should not be implemented 
without first adopting a series of measures to mitigate its predictable 
negative impacts on the poorest sectors of the country.
The growing debate and pressure from the social and popular movements, the 
resignation of nearly the entire negotiating team when it was publicly 
revealed that their salaries were paid by CR-USA, and the insistence of the 
president on the need for a fiscal pact to allow for redistribution of the 
supposed benefits of the FTA as a prerequisite to its approval-all 
contributed to a delay in sending the FTA text to the legislature. Finally 
in October of 2005 the executive branch sent the text on to congress for 
ratification.
The Legislative Situation
The final push for the FTA came from the current administration of the Arias 
brothers-president Oscar and Rodrigo, his chief of staff-that took power in 
May of 2006. Arias took power in the midst of a huge mobilization rejecting 
the results of an extremely close election (just a 1% margin over the 
Citizen Action Party-PAC). This was the first time in Costa Rica's history 
that an election had been popularly contested, amidst serious questioning of 
the Constitutional Court decision to annul a 1969 legislative statute that 
prohibited presidential reelection. Oscar Arias previously held the 
presidency from 1986-1990. CAFTA is a vital issue for the Arias 
administration and it is prepared to get it approved in any way possible.
Hearings in the Commission of International Affairs In favor Opposed Neutral 
or ambiguous Total
Total 35
(58%)18
(30%)7
(12%)60
The discussion in Congress began in June 2006. The FTA was initially 
presented to the Commission on International Affairs, which held hearings 
for five months. The commission refused to admit more than 60 groups opposed 
to the agreement. It also rejected the idea of conferring with indigenous 
groups, as recommended by legislative advisors to comply with Convention 169 
of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
After little more than a month of reviewing seventy motions regarding 
clauses in the initial chapters of the agreement, without substantial 
discussion and approving only 17, the majority of the Commission decided to 
reject the remaining 300 pending motions and emit a favorable finding on the 
FTA on Dec. 12, 2006.
Currently the opposition in Congress is made up of two representatives of 
the Broad Front and Access without Exclusion Parties and 17 representatives 
of the Citizen Action Party, who have formed a legislative front against the 
FTA and support a unified struggle in the Assembly. On the other side, the 
FTA is supported by the 25 representatives of the National Liberation Party 
(PLN) and six of the Libertarian Movement, with the support of the Social 
Christian Unity Party (five representatives), the National Restoration Party 
(one representative) and the National Union Party (one representative). This 
majority of 38 votes approved granting "fast track" to various bills related 
to the FTA calculates that the agreement itself will be ratified in at most 
a month. A measure to reform legislative procedure to apply the same "fast 
track" procedure to the FTA is currently up for approval, despite the fact 
that the mechanism is being challenged in Constitutional Court on the basis 
of how it was instituted and how it is used, because it violates legislative 
rules.
Meanwhile, the full legislature has been meeting twice a day, often until 
midnight, trying to accelerate the procedure and wear down representatives 
who bravely continue to oppose the agreement by calling for substantive 
debate-something that still has not taken place.
The administration is pressing for an FTA vote before March, during the 
vacation period for schools and universities, in an attempt to neutralize 
the teachers' union and student movements, and before May, when Congress 
begins a round of regular hearings and the presidential office will have 
less influence on the agenda.
Unconvincing Arguments Give Way to Scare Tactics

A meeting between security forces and peaceful protesters.
The Costa Rican people have been bombarded daily with a multi-million dollar 
media campaign apparently financed by the large transnational pharmaceutical 
companies and backed by the president's office, Comex and the group Por 
Costa Rica-a foundation created by the ex-negotiators of the FTA. At its 
outset, official publicity claimed that the FTA would create new exporters 
and generate half a million jobs, in the "Jobs for Costa Ricans" campaign. 
However, the FTA offers Costa Rica practically no additional benefit aside 
from those it already has in terms of trade with the United States, and a 
positive impact on employment has been belied by technical projected impact 
models.
Currently the pro-CAFTA camp alternates between promises of new 
opportunities and a fear campaign about the commercial repercussions from 
the Untied States if the agreement isn't ratified, despite the fact that 
U.S. congress members have indicated, and reiterated, that cutting off 
current trade benefits is not a possible course of action. At the same time, 
the mainstream media and governmental representatives insist that the only 
"democratic" way is to respect the decision of the majority, supposedly 
expressed in the electoral triumph of Oscar Arias and his majority control 
of Congress. However, as popular protest grows, so has the conflict between 
the strict legality of the legislative process and its legitimacy to make a 
decision so vital to national interests.
At the same time there is a dangerous process of criminalization of social 
protest underway, including repression and intimidation of those who openly 
manifest doubts about the agreement. Recently propaganda has appeared that 
paints those who oppose the FTA as disguised terrorists and promises to 
apply "the full force of the law" against those who demonstrate. The 
opposing sectors, including academics and political activists, are labeled 
as "out-of-touch leftists" and "opponents of development and national 
interests." Arias has compared them to "children who don't know what's good 
for them and should be obligated by their parents-the government-to accept 
it."
Anonymous documents circulate defaming movement leaders, convictions and 
investigations of individuals who participate in marches and protests or 
report corrupt acts have increased, and a relationship is suspected between 
the rising numbers of break-ins and robberies of computers and property 
belonging to people related to the struggle against the FTA, including 
through violent incursions at union offices. The most recent occurrence is a 
priest accused of reporting the shady sale of two rural properties that 
ended up in the hands of Arias. He was finally absolved, but only after a 
long and painful trial.
For a country in which historically the president has been able to walk the 
streets of the capital without extraordinary security measures, the protests 
that take place each time Arias appears in public have led to the use of a 
200-meter police blockade for every official event and several screening 
areas so that only authorized individuals can get close. Although the 
popular movement calls for pacifist actions, the media insists on using 
violent terms to describe the conflict. Undercover police infiltrate the 
manifestations and provoke confrontations and threaten the leaders. In rural 
areas police recruitment has increased, as well as training in conflict 
techniques.
Recently it was announced that security personnel of the Legislative 
Assembly will be trained in shooting techniques, use of explosives, and bomb 
threats. Paradoxically, this takes place during the administration of a 
Nobel Peace Prize Winner, and although these measures reflect the fear of 
the government of the discontent that it is generating, it is also clear 
that its decision is to impose the FTA through state power and the use of 
force. The government strategy is to ignore not only the message of popular 
protests, but also the basic questions that social organizations, academics, 
politicians and business continue to raise.
The Resistance is Alive and Grows Every Day
If the FTA has had anything positive about it, considering it is such a big 
threat, it's that it has permitted the articulation of the opposition in one 
of the most broad and diverse movements in Costa Rica's history. Although 
Costa Rica doesn't usually appear in the news because of internal conflicts, 
it has always had significant popular movements around environmental, 
productive, and gender issues, defense of labor rights, and against the 
privatization of goods and public services. One of the most important 
occurred in 2000 when the movement supported by hundreds of thousands of 
people obligated the government to table a measure that would allow the 
private sector to control the electrical and telecommunications systems, 
currently still run by the State through the Costa Rican Electrical 
Institute.
However, the struggle against the FTA transcends any other previous 
experience and has fostered coalitions among a wide range of groups and 
people. Their alliance goes beyond sectorial issues and interests: it is the 
defense of Costa Rica as a sovereign nation, the chance to revise and 
improve the model of the Social State and consciously rethink the future of 
the country.
The National Coordinating Committee Against the FTA (CNL) was formed as an 
operative and strategic mechanism for articulating actions between diverse 
sectors and organizations. The groups that form part of the CNL converge 
nationally on a number of platforms and policies, and the Regional Struggle 
Committees organize the structure and resistance in different areas of the 
country. There are also fronts organized in other sectors, for instance the 
National Front Supporting the Struggle Against the FTA, led by the rector of 
the Technological Institute-one of Costa Rica's four public universities. 
The organization includes individuals involved in politics, academia, 
culture, and other national figures. Another example is the Front Against 
the FTA within the National Liberation party that reflects the internal 
fracturing in this governmental party on this issue.
The opposition to the FTA expresses a diversity and multiplicity of 
proposals and actions, which is one of its greatest strengths. This fight 
has been joined by rural campesinos, teachers, communes, unions, indigenous, 
environmentalist, student, academic, religious and cultural groups, women, 
cooperatives, businesses, politicians.
Although there are still many people unaware of the implications of the 
agreement, there has been an enormous effort from the sectors that oppose 
the FTA to provide information and encourage discussion in all corners of 
the country. Only with full public awareness and participation can the 
opposition be truly solid and thoughtful. Their actions have led to a steady 
increase in opposition to the FTA reflected in opinion polls. Institutions 
like the University of Costa Rica, the National University, the Citizen's 
Defense, and the Episcopal Conference have all called attention to the 
negative impacts of the FTA through official announcements.
In the capital and other regions hundreds of forums and debates have been 
held. Comex consistently refuses to attend if officials know beforehand that 
the FTA opposition will be present. Citizens have organized marches and 
protests, labor stoppages, highway blockades, distribution of flyers and 
educational materials, books, manifestos and analytical documents, 
documentaries, songs, community meetings, networks and websites, picketing 
at state events, and meetings with legislators. Some groups are working to 
promote a referendum and others take information to communities through 
concerts and cultural activities.

The National Coordinating Committee called a national strike that paralyzed 
the economy, and the most recent activity-a huge march in San Jose on Feb. 
26-as well as activities in other states. The country has taken up 
discussion on the options for another development path based on the 
principles of the Social State, and as an alternative to the model expressed 
by the FTA.

However, a truly profound public debate on the development models seems to 
remain suspended, given the difficulties of objective dialogue with the 
government and an inevitable confrontation nearing every day.
The interests involved in the FTA are so powerful that it is almost 
impossible that the government will give up implementing it without enormous 
popular pressure. But the potential impact of the agreement is tremendous 
and as sectors realize what it implies they have no option other than to 
react.
As a result of its history and institutional development, Costa Rica is 
probably the Central American country with the most to lose with an FTA. 
Today it faces a historic moment-one that expresses the confrontation 
between the development model imposed by groups in power in recent years, 
and the well-being of the majority. The neoliberal model is at stake, and at 
a breaking point in Costa Rica today. Whatever happens, the country will 
never be the same afterwards.
If the FTA is approved it is easy to imagine what the country will look like 
in 15 years-and it is not a scenario that the great majority of Costa Ricans 
want. If the popular resistance, diverse and alive, manages to turn history 
around, the future panorama is more uncertain but also more hopeful. We 
would still have the possibility to deepen what we've learned over our 
history, and build a more inclusive, fair, and solidarity-based country.
Today's struggle is to have, at the very least, the chance to give it a try.
Notas
Data taken from: Foro Mundial sobre Educación, Educación para Todos, country 
report. At www.unesco.org; Programa Estado de la Nación. At: 
www.estadonacion.or.cr: Fumero Paniagua, Gerardo. "El Estado solidario 
frente a la globalización. Debate sobre el TLC y el ICE", San José, Costa 
Rica, 2006.
The CR-USA, whose mission is to "promote collaboration between the peoples 
and governments of Costa Rica and the United States," received a start-up 
fund of US$56 million. Source: Aportes de EE. UU. sufragan gastos del país 
en el TLC, Ernesto Rivera, La Nación.

Translated for the IRC Americas Program by Laura Carlsen and Katie 
Kohlstedt, IRC.
Photos by FIRE taken by Yarman Jiménez.
Eva Carazo Vargas (evacarazov at gmail.com) works for the Costa Rican Organic 
Agriculture Movement and forms part of the Biodiversity Network coordinating 
team. She supports various social organizations especially related to 
agriculture, biodiversity, and intellectual property, and participates in 
the National Committee against the FTA. She is a trade and agriculture 
analyst with the IRC America's Program (www.americaspolicy.org)

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200610/24/eng20061024_314674.html

Costa Ricans protest against free trade deal with U.S.

Around 10,000 Costa Ricans protested on Monday against a free trade deal 
with the United States, calling on the legislature to reject the agreement.
The demonstrators marched through the streets of San Jose and other towns to 
protest against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) that 
will remove trade barriers between Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, the 
United States, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
There was no violence during the demonstrations that were supported by 
unions, teachers, students, farm workers and indigenous groups.
The protestors, chanting anti-CAFTA slogans and carrying signs that said the 
CAFTA-DR was unjust, rallied outside the Congress, urging deputies to reject 
the agreement.
Protest leaders handed in a petition calling on legislators to end 
privatization of the country's ports and what organizers called the 
"repression of demonstration."
They said they would return in greater numbers on Tuesday.
Rodrigo Arias, brother of President Oscar Arias and cabinet spokesman, told 
the media that the protests would not work.
"Demonstrators are asking the government to withdraw the free trade 
agreement from the legislature: a demand we cannot accept. This government 
is acting coherently, as it announced in its campaign for office. This 
agreement is needed by the country."
President Arias promised to pass the deal during his election campaign 
earlier this year.
All public services were working normally despite the protests, the 
spokesman added.
Costa Rica's Union of Private Enterprise Chambers and Associations shunned 
the protests.
Source: Xinhua

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1374222.php/Thousands_of_riot_police_in_Athens_for_annual_march_to_US_Embassy

Thousands of riot police in Athens for annual march to US Embassy

Nov 16, 2007, 13:39 GMT
Athens - Thousands of riot police took up positions throughout central 
Athens and the northern port city of Thessaloniki Friday ahead of an annual 
march to the US Embassy to mark the anniversary of a bloody student revolt.
Many shops remained closed as nearly 8,000 riot police took up positions 
outside of embassies, government buildings and the Athens' Polytechnic 
University in preparation for Saturday's march which has sparked riots in 
recent years.
Thousands of demonstrators are expected to take to the streets on Saturday 
for the annual march which will start from the Athens Polytechnic, the site 
of the 1973 uprising against the military dictatorship then ruling Greece, 
towards the US Embassy.
Dozens of people died when the military junta sent tanks into the university 
to put down the revolt 35 years ago, which many believe was backed by the 
US.
In recent years, the demonstrations often escalate into riots between hooded 
anarchists, armed with stones and petrol bombs, and riot police.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7120624.stm

Ecuador bids to quell oil protest

President Rafael Correa of Ecuador has declared a state of emergency in an 
Amazon province where protests have cut oil output by about 20%.
The demonstrators want the government to spend more revenue from oil on 
infrastructure in Orellana province.
Mr Correa said he would not let a handful of "lunatics" harm the interests 
of 13 million Ecuadoreans.
Oil accounts for about 40% of Ecuador's export earnings but protests in the 
oil-rich Amazon often hit production.
Mr Correa also sacked the interior minister, Gustavo Larrea, saying he had 
failed to quell the protests and underplayed the problem in his reports.
Mr Correa also forced the head of the state oil company, Petroecuador, to 
resign and ordered a high-level commission to investigate the unrest.
Demonstrators began taking over oil wells in Orellana on Monday.
They were reported to have cut communication lines and caused minor damage.
"I am not going to permit more anarchy", the president said.
"The irresponsible, crazy people who are behind these attacks on the whole 
nation must listen. We will punish any act of vandalism with the full force 
of the law."
Under the rules of the state of emergency, public meetings and marches are 
be banned, and a curfew put in place.
Petroecuador says it has given the authorities in Orellana province enough 
revenue to pay for the roads and electricity lines which the protestors are 
demanding.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/02/asia/AS-GEN-Philippines-Anti-US-Protest.php

Protesters storm US Embassy before being pushed back by Manila riot police

The Associated Press
Published: December 2, 2007

MANILA, Philippines: About two dozen protesters stormed the American Embassy 
in Manila on Sunday, pounding a U.S. government seal at the gate with their 
fists and a brick before surprised policemen pushed them away.
The protesters demanded the transfer to a Philippine jail of U.S. Marine 
Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, who was convicted exactly a year ago of raping a 
Filipino woman but has remained under U.S. government custody at the heavily 
fortified embassy.
Taking advantage of the absence of policemen, who usually stand guard 
outside the embassy, the protesters ran toward the gates and used their 
fists and a red brick to pound a bronze U.S. government seal on the wall, an 
Associated Press photographer at the scene said.
Policemen later arrived and pushed them away but did not make any arrests.
"It has been one year and he is still being protected by the United States 
government," said protest leader Vencer Crisostomo, adding that American 
soldiers should face the consequences of crimes they commit overseas.
The protesters demanded the repeal of the bilateral Visiting Forces 
Agreement, which allows large numbers of American troops to join war 
exercises in the Philippines.
A suburban Manila court convicted Smith last year of raping a Filipino woman 
in a van as fellow Marines cheered him on. The court sentenced him to 40 
years in prison for the act, which was committed while he was on liberty 
after taking part in military exercises north of Manila.
Smith, from St. Louis, claimed that the sex was consensual and has appealed 
the court ruling.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's government agreed to allow Smith to be 
detained at the U.S. Embassy during his appeal, angering women's groups and 
left-wing activists.
Smith's conviction has been hailed as a victory for women's rights and 
Philippine independence. The Philippines is a former American colony.

http://www.livinginperu.com/news-5219-miningenergy-peru-miners-protest-block-highway-during-riot

3 December, 2007 [ 09:00 ]
Peru: Miners Protest and Block Highway During Riot

(LIP-ir) -- Union workers for Los Quenuales Company, an operating unit of 
Yauliyacu, blocked the 114th kilometer of Carretera Central Highway last 
night in the Casapalca area, located in the province of Huarochiri, Lima.

The protest is taking place two days after miners ended a strike on Friday 
and Peru's police cleared the highway of the rocks and debris protesting 
miners had placed to stop traffic.

According to listeners that called RPP radio this morning, interprovincial 
buses and transport vehicles are stranded and unable to get past the 
blockade that mining workers have established on both sides of the highway.

Miners are demanding that fifteen union leaders be given their jobs back 
after having been fired when they took part in a strike that took place on 
November 5. They are also requesting that negotiations begin on a list of 
demands being made by workers.

Over 1,800 miners have worked for the company for over ten years in 
deplorable and inhumane conditions, exposing themselves to high temperatures 
and a toxic environment which continuously cause accidents, said Peru's 
National Federation of Mining and Metalworkers.

Of the all the miners that work for Los Quenuales mining company, 1,800 are 
hired by contractors while only 250 are on the company's payroll, reported 
Peru's Labor Ministry.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200712070123.html

Nigeria: Trovan Test - Victims' Families Stage Protest in Court

This Day (Lagos)
7 December 2007
Posted to the web 7 December 2007
Ibrahim Shuaibu
Kano
The civil case filed against Pfizer , the multinational drug company , at a 
Kano court took a different dimension yesterday as the presiding judge , 
Justice Sanusi Chiroma ordered a group of placard -carrying victims out of 
the court room for expressing their grievances openly right in the 
courtroom.
They had stormed the court in their numbers to press home their demands for 
direct compensation from the company . Justice Chiroma stated that as much 
as people have the freedom to express their rights, it should not be 
exercised at the detriment of free and fair administration of justice . He 
noted that expression of grievances such as was being done should be carried 
out outside the court room .

A hot argument later ensued between counsels to the plaintiff and defendants 
on the procedure for hearing the applications brought before the court after 
which the judge adjourned the case to January 28, 2008 for further ruling on 
the matter.
Speaking with THISDAY after the court session, counsel to the plaintiff, 
Barrister Babatunde Irukere said his clients were not happy with the 
development in the court, alleging that the counsel to the defendant seems 
to working towards stopping the court from entertaining the case in Kano.
Meanwhile, Pfizer yesterday described the decision by Kano state government 
to cease all communication with the company as unfortunate, while 
reiterating its resolve to reach an appropriate resolution of the matter.

It also said that the Kano state's media campaign aimed at frustrating 
discussions between the government and the company would not stop its avowed 
commitment to talks genuinely aimed at achieving a rational and fair result.
"While the comments by Kano officials are most unfortunate, they do not 
diminish Pfizer's commitment to dialogue conducive to resolving its 
differences with the Nigerian federal and state governments. We believe, 
however, that efforts to try these cases in the media or intimidate the 
company and the courts are an impediment to that process," said Pfizer 
Spokesman, Chris Loder. On the allegations against the trial's protocol, 
Pfizer reiterated that the 1996 trial was conducted with full knowledge and 
approval of the Nigerian government, consent of the participants' parents or 
guardians and consistent with Nigerian laws. It also said that conditions 
for honouring the Kano's government demand for monetary compensation had not 
been met . Pfizer had asked the government for documentation to support the 
extraordinary amounts of money requested. In addition, the company's 
requests for details regarding study participants that the government 
alleges suffered physical injury as a result of the trial have gone 
unanswered. "Pfizer rejects any attempts by Nigeria to collect money based 
on public intimidation, unsubstantiated allegations and for unspecified 
purposes. The company stands by the results of the 1996 trial and is 
prepared to vigorously defend it in court if need be," added Loder.
Andrew Young seeks positive image for Nigeria Former U.S. Permanent 
Representative to the UN Andrew Young has decried the bad press publicity, 
which Nigeria was having abroad. In an interview with the News Agency of 
Nigeria (NAN) today in Lagos, Young called on Nigerian media to always 
highlight the positive aspects of their country. "What we get to hear about 
Nigeria in the U.S. is only 419 (advanced fee fraud), but you have hundreds 
of thousands of Nigerians who are honest, decent and hardworking," Young 
said. Young said Nigeria with a lot of talents, had the potential to be 
great and urged the government to tap from the wealth of experience of its 
citizens living abroad. "Invite your people to come home because they have 
done very well abroad " he said, pointing out that there were numerous 
Nigerian doctors and engineers, who had excelled in the U.S. "I think we 
have more Nigerian doctors and engineers in the U.S. than we have 
inNigeria," he said, attributing the development to the brain drain, which 
began in the military era. Young said Nigerians living abroad could assist 
in uplifting the national economy with the huge foreign exchange they remit 
home annually. "Nigerians in the U.S. have always remembered that they are 
Nigerians. They send home more than five billion dollars every year. "That 
is more than what comes in from the World Bank and from trade and foreign 
aid. "So, I have always felt that the hope for Africa lies in Africans in 
the Diaspora in the U.S, Canada, Caribbean and Brazil," he said. The former 
envoy called on Nigerians to support President Umaru Yar'Adua to make the 
country great. "President Yar'Adua is almost a saint. He is a wise and 
honest man and I think he is what Nigerians need. "Whether you voted for 
Yar'Adua or not, you're still a Nigerian and have to work with him to make 
your country succeed," Young said. He said as a Democrat in U.S., he had had 
cause to criticise Republican presidents, but still had to work with them to 
make the U.S. government to succeed. Young arrived in Nigeria on Tuesday 
with the inaugural flight of Delta Airline.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200711211926.htm

AIYF observes 'protest day' across Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Pro-CPI All India Youth Federation(AIYF) observed 
on Wednesday as 'protest day' across the state to register its resentment 
over the arrest of its activists yesterday during agitation against 
multi-national retail chains.
Activists held demonstrations in various places in the state and no untoward 
incident was reported from anywhere, police said.
Meanwhile, a 12-hour hartal was observed in Alappuzha town.
Private buses were off the roads and shops and business establishments 
remained closed. However, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses and 
boat services operated as usual.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200801071859.htm

Violent protest against Meghalaya cabinet decision on power projects

Shillong (PTI): Students ransacked shops and stoned buses as sporadic 
violence marred protests by a powerful students group of Meghalaya opposing 
the state cabinet decision to rope in private companies to develop power 
projects.

Intensifying the protests over the cabinet decision, hundreds of supporters 
of Khasi Students Union (KSU) on Monday marched to the main secretariat 
here, shouting slogans against Chief Minister D D Lapang and Power Minister 
Mukul Sangma.

Sporadic incidents of violence were reported as the agitated students 
ransacked some shops and pelted stones on buses at G S Road here during 
protest. Police however, said there were no injuries in the incident.

Warning the state government not to take the KSU demand lightly, its 
President Samuel Jyrwa said "we are going to intensify the agitation if the 
government does not review the decision to hand over power projects to 
private companies."

The KSU will also undertake a two-day office picketing from Tuesday. The 
student body, however, has called off the road blockade and bandh earlier 
slated for January 8 and 9 to suit some wedding dates and church programmes.

Legislators, including some from the ruling alliance, and students groups 
have turned the heat on Lapang even as Lapang convened a cabinet meeting 
next week to discuss the issue.

During a cabinet meeting on December 7, the government had decided to rope 
in some private companies to develop the state's hydel power projects.

The KSU stir comes close on the heels of a number of MLAs, including six 
ministers, expressing reservations about the decision which was reportedly 
taken without having full quorum of the cabinet.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711220489.html

Uganda: FDC to Protest in Kololo

New Vision (Kampala)
21 November 2007
Posted to the web 22 November 2007
Geresom Musamali
Kampala
The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has organised a protest against what 
they described as the failure by the Commonwealth nations to fulfil the 
purpose for which the group was set up.
FDC president Dr. Kizza Besigye yesterday said they will hold the activities 
at Kololo Airstrip today and tomorrow to, among other things, demonstrate, 
debate and hold rallies in protest against the Commonwealth.

The Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura, yesterday gave the go-ahead 
for the function, but cautioned the public against moving to the airstrip in 
large groups that may disrupt traffic. Kayihura, in a letter to FDC, also 
demanded to know how many people they were expecting at the airstrip. But 
Besigye expressed surprise that Kayihura wanted the party to estimate the 
number of participants. Addressing journalists on Katonga Road, Besigye, 
flanked by Chapaa Karuhanga, said the activities would coincide with the 
Commonwealth summit that will take place tomorrow.

"The Commonwealth has a set of values that it periodically evaluates and 
follows up. They include political management, social and economic welfare 
and the environment." Besigye encouraged former soldiers enlisted with the 
King's African Rifles to turn up and demonstrate against the failure by the 
Commonwealth to prevail on Uganda to pay them their gratuity and pensions. 
The soldiers, who fought alongside Britain in World War II, have sued the 
Government, which they say inherited the debt from the colonial government. 
Besigye has also called upon the Bunyoro leaders to attend. The Omukama 
Kabalega was exiled to the Seychelles during colonial rule. Part of his land 
was also donated by the colonial government to Buganda for helping it fight 
Kabalega. Others invited are environmentalists and the Luweero war 
claimants. Besigye, however, said the party was not boycotting CHOGM.
"How can you boycott a function to which you have not been invited? Some 
individuals in the party were selectively invited to some functions. But as 
FDC, we have never been invited." He said the Commonwealth secretariat had 
also not responded to the issues they raised. "The Queen has never had an 
interest in Uganda. She has only had interest in the welfare of her British 
people. That is why she sent her people here to destroy and loot Bunyoro," 
he said.
"The state of standards in the Commonwealth is appaling. They are condemning 
Zimbabwe because (Robert) Mugabe is taking away land from the whites and 
giving it to indigenous people. But they are condoning Uganda's taking away 
of land from local people to give it to foreigners."