Quake G8 2009 – We are your crisis! | Demonstration on 4th of July 2009 in Berlin

While the worldwide financial crisis and the struggles against it
are reinforcing, police and military are preparing for increasing
protests and resistance. The institutions of the „leading economic
nations“ are forced to reorganize, so this year´s summit of the
selfappointed „world leadership“ (Italy´s foreign minister Franco
Frattini naming the G8) stands entirely under the sign of this
reorganisation.
On the agenda there are climate, resources, food and migration – as
security political risks for the industrial countries. Normally no
subject for G8 summits, Berlusconi wants to drive forward the
„regulation of the internet“.

The inofficial motto of the G8 issued by Frattini is called: „We produce security“.
NATO, G8 and EU are supposed to collaborate more in the „struggle
against terrorism“ to secure the „chains of resources“. In the „Tampere
Programme“ (1999) and the „Hague Programme“ (2004) of EU ministers of
the Interior and of Justice decisions were made to tighten up the
migration politics and new departments were established such as Europol
and Frontex. A following restrictive „Stockholm Programme“ shall be
adopted in autumn 2009 under Swedish presidency. Also envisaged are
several missions of the „ European Gendarmerie Squad“ in order to
suppress insurrections in „crisis zones“.
In the „civil-military cooperation“ „Anti-Terror“ laws are functioning
as a shim for the militarization of social conflicts by NATO, G8 and EU
. Those are long since put into position as well against
anticapitalistic resistance to bring for example protests against
summits under control.

Compared to earlier mobilizations against the G8 summit the resistance is considerable already now.
At the end of March the conference of the G8 Employment Secretaries and
Social Services Ministers was meeting in Rome. In the course of the
international action day 50000 were demonstrating against the financial
crisis and referred to the G8 for the first time since 2001. Basic
trade unionists, syndicalists and students were successfully opposing
to demonstration conditions.

In
Treviso a public general meeting was held against the meeting of the G8
ministers of agriculture. There were demonstrations against environment
destruction, industrial agriculture, nanotechnology and genetic
engineering. In Rome agricultural workers were striking for eight
hours. Activists of YaBasta had fenced in Benetton´s sales outlet with
barbed wire. In Roncade a laboratory for experiments with genetically
modified organisms was „sanctioned from below“, stones were thrown onto
greenhouses and surveillance cameras and „No GMO“ was sprayed on walls:
„This is our welcome greeting to the delegations of all those
considering themselves ruling the world on the back of billions of
people“, it says in a declaration.

In Syracusa/ Sicily 3000
people were demonstrating against the meeting of the G8 environment
ministers and related to this against international military and
commercial large-scale projects. Out of the mobilization developed a
permanent network to support social struggles in the area.

In
Torino 8000 people were participating at a nationwide demonstration
against a meeting of university directors of the G8 states. Helmeted
protesters carried big shields, built barricades and tried to break
through police chains. Fire extinguishers were put into position
against the police; a symbolic action following the gesture which
costed Carlo Giuliani´s life in 2001. The protests in Torino led to the
cancellation of the meeting of the G8 ministers of Science scheduled in
Monza.

Ten years after Seattle the group „Diggers 2.0“ is calling for „solidarity out of the
rubble of Neoliberalism“. „What we need is crisis management from
below, a counterauthority of social movements with shovels in their
hands getting ready to build up a post-capitalistic world“.

At
the meeting of the G8 ministers of the Interior 5000 people
demonstrated against their racist migration politics – this meeting
originally scheduled on Lampedusa had been postponed quickly after
riots in refugee camps. One week before 15000 people had been already
on the streets in Milano to show their protest against the Italian
security decrees.

Further protests against the G8 are
announced. Before and during the summit it is appealed for general
meetings, actions and demonstrations among others on Sardinia, in
Lecce, Rome and Vicenza as well as in the earthquake area around
L´Aquila.

For informations about new developments in Italy as
well as about the trials against 25 activists due to the G8 2001 in
Genua, look at:
http://g809.blogsport.de and www.gipfelsoli.org.

In
order to support the Italian mobilization we are organizing for the 4th
of July a demonstration in Berlin which has as its motto: “Quake G8
2009 – We are your crisis!”

We are calling for pushing ahead
in cross-border mobilizations in 2009 the development of a
transnational struggle against the „architectures of security“ no
matter if they shall be constructed by NATO, G8 or the EU.

Smash security architectures!
Shake G8 – Quake G8!
La storia siamo noi!