International ‘cacerolazo’ in support of
women in Argentina and the global South

The first cacerolazo (pots & pans protest) called by WinWages (Women’s International Network for Waged for Caring Work) took place in heavy rain in London, England, on Saturday 26 January 2002 at 2pm, in front of the World Bank.  A hundred people, soaked but elated, crowded under the overhang of New Zealand House which houses the World Bank.

As far as we are aware, there were people from Argentina, Brazil and other Latin American countries, Ghana, Italy, Pakistan, Spain, USA, Zimbabwe.

To the sound of pots, pans and the drums of Rhythms of Resistance, people chanted their support for the Argentinian sisters, and their condemnation of IMF/World Bank policies which have brought starvation and exploitation all over the world.

The crowd hung on every drop of news about the first National Cacerolazo which had ended just a few hours before in Argentina.  Tens of thousands had taken to the streets all over the country.  The single biggest crowd of 30,000 congregated in Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires, having marched from neighbourhood assemblies.

Translating the chant of ‘Y llovio y llovio, el pueblo no se movio!”, which characterised the Buenos Aires cacerolazo, also under torrential rain, the London crowd chanted “It rained and rained, but the people remained!”  One woman spoke about the struggle of women farmers in Africa to do subsistence farming and refuse to submit to the IMF and its international market which promotes cash crops.  While subsistence farming feeds Africa, cash crops for export, which are supported by men who are paid for work their wives do, feed capital while people starve.

A man from Pakistan told the crowd that 30% of the Pakistani budget goes to the debt, and another 30% to the military, with arms the West sells them.  A Native American woman drew out the connection between the theft of Indigenous land in the US and the theft of land in Third World countries. 

A spokeswoman from the ‘IMF Wanted for Fraud’ campaign made the point that IMF has been imposing privatisation all over the South.  Others highlighted that the privatisation of water and other vital resources and services resulted in the deaths of millions and a huge burden of work for women trying to keep families alive despite this genocide.

It was also raised that the cacerolazos and the neighbourhood assemblies are self-mobilised and reject political parties and the trade unions and NGOs connected to them – an important lesson for the autonomy of all of us.

The names of all the towns and cities in Argentina where cacerolazos took place last night were read out and greeted with banging, drumming, whistling and cheering.  The Argentinian uprising has become an occasion for women in the Third World and even in industrial countries to speak against the effects of globalisation and privatisation on all of us, and to widen the international women’s network of struggle and to give practical mutual support.

A line of police protected the World Bank building and threatened to arrest all if we took over the pavement.  But as the loud drumming hit its finale, women’s dancing proved irresistible, attracting many passers by who stopped and watched with delight.  We took over the pavement and no one was arrested.  The participants agreed to get together again as events unfold in Argentina.

This international women’s cacerolazo is part of the mobilisation for the Global Women’s Strike which will take place on 8 March, International Women’s Day, and whose theme is ‘Invest in Caring not Killing’.

WinWages
Crossroads Women’s Centre, 230ª Kentish Town Road, London NW5 2AB
Tel: 020-7482 2496  Fax: 020-7209 4761 
Email: crossroadswomenscentre@compuserve.com
Website: http://womenstrike8m.server101.com

26 January 2002

 International ‘cacerolazo’ in support of women in Argentina and the global South.
Philadelphia USA.

PHILADELPHIA PO Box 11795 Philadelphia PA 19101 Tel: 215-848 1120 Fax: 215-848 1130 E-mail: womenstrike8m@server101.com

On January 26, 2002, fifteen women and men, Latino, Black, and white, responded to the call and came together for chanting and banging of pots and pans in support of the women of Argentina. The Philadelphia cacerolazo took place in front of Saloman Smith Barney, an investment bank that is part of Citigroup – one of the most active banks in Argentina and which has been implicated in local “predatory-lending” practices. We charge: “Here a thief, there a thief, everywhere a thief.” Independent media interviewed us and took pictures – even people from the building came outside to see what was happening! Power to the sisters!