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Who are the G8? -- A week of action and discussion in Cambridge

Manos (edit) | 06.06.2004 12:23 | G8 2005 | Globalisation | Social Struggles | Cambridge

From June 8th-10th in Sea Island, Georgia, the world's 8 most powerful governments met. Next year, they're coming here.

The eight most powerful men in the world are on the run. Rocked by the scandals of third world debt, growing global inequality and violence in the service of neoliberalism, the G8 have been chased around the world since 1998, when 70,000 confronted them in Birmingham (the last time they met in the UK). Nowhere is safe for these eight global superpowers, so they find themselves forced to retreat into brutally enforced 'red zones' (as in Genoa, 2001) or inaccessible mountains (as in Canada, 2002, or Switzerland, 2003). This year, the eight prime ministers and presidents were protected from protesters by the sea, on a small island of the coast of the US. Even so, in case the sound of the sea failed to drown out the sound of dissent, a state of emergency was declared in the state of Georgia, allowing police to halt any demonstrations. And next year, the eight most powerful men in the world will be coming to the UK.

[G8 2004 in Georgia: News (official) | Maps]
[Cambridge pre-event publicity: flier 1 | flier 2 | Forum | Peoples' Golfing Association | East Anglia]
[Cambridge event reports: Anarchist golf photos | street theatre | forum | G8 explanation-leaflet | Corporate media on anarchist golf]
[Background: Debt and the G8 (WDM) | Arms Trade and the g8 (Amnesty) | Unfair Trade Rules (Oxfam) | Iraq War and the G8 | Health (MSF) | Global Policy Forum Analysis | Toronto University Background | `Better World' G8 links]

G8 protests
G8 protests


They can run, but they can't hide. We've chased them all over the world, and we can resist them wherever we are. On June 10th, as US protests faced repression (and continue in spite of it), opposition exploded in solidarity around the world. Here in Cambridge, we made our opposition visible with riotous street theatre action, showing that an attempt to silence us in one place simple makes our voices louder elsewhere. In the evening, we met to discuss the G8, what it is and how we can organise resistance to it in the UK next year. We also showed films about the injustice which the G8 perpetrates as well as parodying the G8 with some crazy anarchist golf action!

Details of events in Georgia and Cambridge are to be found in the links above. Now that this year's summit is over, preparations begin for next year. Join us - together we will defeat the G8!

Brought to you by the Cambridge Action Network: cambridge@lists.riseup.net

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