|
|
Protests were peaceful at Spring IMF meetings
by Jo Freeman
|
Protests at the Spring 2005 meetings of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) were small, colorful and peaceful. Demonstrations at these meetings have become a regular event since 25,000
people descended on Washington in 2000 and tied up the city for days.
[http://www.50years.org/photos/2005apr16/index.html] This year there were no arrests.
This year's demand was total cancellation of the debts of all poor
countries. While many in the US government and those of the other rich
countries already favor debt cancellation, there is disagreement on how
much to cancel, which countries should be eligible, under what conditions
and whether or not the lender institutions (e.g. IMF, Africa Development
Bank) should have their losses reimbursed by the rich countries. Finance
ministers meeting the weekend of April 16-17 did not reach consensus on this
issue.
Mobilization for Global Justice, which formed for the 2000 protests, organized a week of activities this year, including two public
demonstrations. [www.globalizethis.org]
Friday morning, April 15, about forty demonstrators, and almost as many press, met across the street from the Treasury Building where the G-7 were meeting "to issue a notice ... that the system they control is structurally unsound, and that they have 24 hours to cancel the debt and start building a structure that can truly eradicate poverty." CANCEL THE DEBT T-shirts were
passed out by a man who identified himself as employed by the Nigerian
government.
On Saturday about 400 people marched from a small park in front of the World Bank to Dupont Circle. The march was spirited, peaceful and well organized. The only conflict occured when four right-to-lifers raised their
anti-abortion signs during the pre-march rally. Anti-IMF demonstrators surrounded them with chants until one police officer ordered the pro-lifers across the street. However, when the march started they slipped into the crowd and walked to Dupont Circle along with everyone else.
There the march was greeted by 55 National Park Police assigned to
protect the park from the demonstrators while they listened to speakers and entertainers and picnicked on the grass. The DC police had delegated about
400 cops to protect the World Bank buildings in case protestors penetrated
the jersey barriers, fences and checkpoints, but most were out of sight and
only a dozen escorted the marchers in order to stop traffic along the way.
Inside these barriers press hung out in the basement of the IMF building where numerous press releases and reports were stacked on long tables. Across the street finance ministers and the heads of central banks met in
the World Bank building. Regular press conferences gave reporters an opportunity to ask questions about the press releases and reports.
At one conference Sunday morning the topic was the Fast Track Initiative
on Education [www.worldbank.org/education/efafti]. Outgoing World Bank President James Wolfensohn called education "The cutting edge issue" for reduction of poverty. Carin Jämtin, Sweden's Minister of International Development, said the focus this year is getting more girls into school. Of
the 100 million children who don't go to primary school, 58 percent are
girls. Research has shown that investing in girls' education pays off more
than boys' education in increasing family income, decreasing family size
and producing healthier children.
Jo Freeman is a political scientist and attorney. Her most recent book is At Berkeley in the Sixties: Education of an Activist (Indiana U. Press 2004). Her previous book, A Room at a Time: How Women Entered Party Politics, (Rowman and Littlefield, 2000) was reviewed by Emily Mitchell, a Senior Women Web Culture Watch critic.
Jo's next book, We Will Be Heard: Women's Struggles for Political Power in the United States, will be published by Rowman and Littlefield in March.
Other books include The Politics of Women's Liberation, winner of the 1975 American Political Science Association's prize for the Best Scholarly Book on Women and Politics; five editions of Women: A Feminist Perspective (ed.). Jo edited Social Movements of the Sixties and Seventies and (with Victoria Johnson) as well as Waves of Protest: Social Movements Since the Sixties. She has a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago and a J.D. from NYU's School of Law. Visit her website, www.jofreeman.com and email her at joreen@jofreeman.com
©Jo Freeman for SeniorWomenWeb
|
|
