Czech Republic: Protest Organizers Condemn Violence

PRAGUE -- the Initiative Against Economic Globalisation (INPEG)
is deeply saddened that people have been hurt during the course
of events of Tuesdays protests. Over 15,000 people turned out
in the streets yesterday to support the INPEG call to shut-down
the World Bank and IMF, precisely because these institutions are
engaged in destructive policies that hurt millions of people around
the world. We are very upset that people were hospitalised during
yesterdays events in Prague, and condemn the escalation of violence
we saw in the streets on Tuesday. This escalation hurt innocent
people, and is distracting attention away from the violence of
economic globalisation that we are working together to stop.

Yesterdays INPEG events were organised to provide a free and
open space for people from around the world to express their views
on the damage done by economic globalisation. They provided an
alternative vision, one where the people have the power to create
the type of world they want to live in. The mornings events
at Namesti Miru were very successful, with a carnival of resistance
attended by thousands of activists from different groups and different
parts of the world. The procession to the Congress Center effectively
challenged the authorities ban on marching in the city, and filled
the streets with people calling for a better world. The direct
action around the Congress Center was also successful in keeping
most of the delegates to the World Bank and IMF meetings from
being able to leave.

The actions of September 26th happened in the context of a global
crises. People around the globe are challenging the legitimacy
of the current system of economic globalisation. The World Bank,
IMF, and WTO are both the most obvious symbols of this system,
and its most powerful proponents. In solidarity with our actions
on September 26th, there were hundreds of events in over 40 countries.
People shut down cities from (Tel Aviv to Washington DC put
in others, check IMC website!). There were events in over 65
cities in the U.S. alone. People are frustrated at a system where
the majority of the world has no voice in creating the economic
system in which they live. Every day, 19,000 children die needlessly,
because countries are being forced to pay back interest payments
on foreign debt rather than invest in Health care and education
for their people. A movement is building to create a world where
the people have a voice to stop situations like this rather than
the current system where we hear hollow promises but see little
action.

• 194 World Financial Institutions