Days of resistance to the G8

A-Infos News Service, 15 May 2003

The G8 meets from Sunday 1st of June till Tuesday 3rd of June in Evian, France, on the shore of Lake Leman opposite Switzerland. This small city and 10 kilometers around it will be a militarized exclusion zone (entry only with badges), however most of the some 10,000 people involved (advisors, support, journalists, technicians, translators, etc., plus the ministers of 20 vassal countries) will have to be lodged in a radius of 40 kilometers (Geneva, Lausanne and the French mountain resorts of Haute Savoie south of Evian).

There is thus the possibility of perturbing the summit by blocking entries and/or exits to the zone. Most participants will normally enter and exit via ferries between Evian and Lausanne, where two smaller exclusion zones will protect the landing zone of the ferries and two of the largest hotels in the center of Lausanne. Two thousand five star hotel rooms have been reserved in Geneva.

These people will normally also cross the lake to Lausanne and continue to Geneva by the Swiss turnpike on the North side of the lake (The hotels and airport are all on the north side of Geneva ie, the right bank of the river). However, if the ferry is blocked, they would also have the option of going West along the South side of the lake from Evian to Geneva, or if necessary going East from Evian to the other border with Switzerland at St-Gingolphe and from there going all around the lake with the turnpike (see maps www.swissgeo.ch).

Support people will be arriving in the hotels by Thursday 29th of May. Bush was planning to land for an official reception at Geneva airport at 4pm on Sunday 1st of June, then on (by helicopter) to open the G8 in Evian at around 7pm. However, popular indignation, the opposition of all the left parties and the fear of uncontrollable protests finally brought the authorities of the Canton of Geneva to publically oppose this plan, which has been officially cancelled. Bush will land in secret, like the criminal he is, perhaps at Geneva, but possibly also at Zurich or elsewhere. Participants will probably be trying to return to their hotels from about 9pm on.

On Monday and Tuesday other protests and blockades will no doubt continue... Four anti-G8 coordinations (Lausanne, Geneva, Haute Savoie and Paris) are jointly providing a political umbrella for various events of particular organisations and groupings:

Alternative villages (each for a few thousand people), all more or less on the Strasbourg No Border camp model (self-organisation, debates, horizontality), are being set up in Lausanne, and Geneva, plus two at Annemasse (a French suburb of Geneva), one anti-authoritarian <www.vaaag.org> and one of diverse groups and individuals <www.g8-illegal.org>. The villages open the 28th of May.

Thursday 29th of May: demos

Lausanne : demo around the hotels to say Not Welcome! to the G8 participants in a colorful, musical way.

Chamonix, France : demo at the Mont Blanc tunnel for liberty of movement and against truck transport.

Annemasse, France : a festive, out-reaching demo to thank the inhabitants hosting the villagers and reclaim public space.

Note: The general tone of G8 demos will be determined but humorous, musical and open. The local organizers want the G8 to be the occasion to widen the movement and comprehension of the issues not be seen as a foreign invasion !

Friday 30th of May

An instructive tour of Geneva’s international institutions: against free trade and for free movement of humans.

Friday and Saturday

Various countersummit events of NGOs, ATTAC, CADTM, etc. Debates are planned in several villages and at the University of Geneva concerning commons as an alternative to private and state control of education, land, culture, etc... Arrival of late-coming thousands, organization of affinity groups, etc., for the grand opening of the tomorrow...

Saturday night

Fires on the lake, about 50 huge fires will be lit in localities all around the lake encircling the G8. An occasion to mix with the locals who may or may not fancy demonstrating the next day (Groups invited by local communities to a particular fire might well have less problems at the frontier, Contact www.evlan.org).

Sunday 1st of June

Mass demo: (100 thousand? Two? More?) between Annemasse and Geneva (about 6 kilometers), starting at 9 or 10am. Part of the demo will start from the French side (the French villages and campsite, the station in Annemasse and the turnpike junction) and march towards Geneva along the Route de Chjne.

Others will leave the lakeside in Geneva to meet them along the same route. After the junction, marchers will return to their starting points via the Route de Malagnou parallel to it. For maps, see <www.swissgeo.ch>. This demo and a simultaneous one in Lausanne will be in effect blocades as they will paralyse all trafic in the area (Geneva’s population = 300,000!)

Blocades: Demos will be completed by blocades and encerclements around the exclusion zones of Lausanne and roads leading to Geneva hotels.

KEY APPOINTMENTS

As early as possible Sunday morning at the Lausanne village and by the lake (the park called Jardin Anglais) in Geneva. Monday and Tuesday, more civil disobedience, fun and games ...

France

Convergence

Annemasse airport, Info-point and campings, etc.

Two villages (also beside Annemasse airport)

The Village Alternatif Anticapitaliste Antiguerre <www.vaaag.org> and the Village InterGalactique <www.g8-illegal.org>. The two villages are open to all. See websites for objectives, principles and organisation.

Access

Vehicles can park at the airport except on 1st of June. There will be an info-point at the Annemasse railway station (about 2 kils. away)

Geneva

Convergence

l’Usine, Place des Volontaires

Info-points

Info-Bus opposite the railway station; l’Usine (Place des Volontaires), University (UNI-Bastions, Rue de Candolle) and Maison des Associations (Rue des Savoises)

Village ZAAGE <zaage.lautre.net> Stade du Bout du Monde (Carouge)

Campings

Stade du Bout du Monde (Carouge)

Lausanne

Convergence

Village C’VILLAGE and Campings near the Parc de Vidy (see the website www.squat.net/contreattaque for confirmation)

Info-points

Maison du Peuple (see the website www.squat.net/contre-attaque for confirmation)

General practical infos

Frontiers, control and repression: Gas masks and helmets are considered arms and an excuse for immediate expulsion. Frontier controls will be reestablished all around France, plus controls on accesses to the region (railway stations such as Lyon or Valence, turnpike booths, etc...). The Swiss and french governments admit to having black lists of people present in previous demos. Frontier controls with Italy will be shifted south of the alpine tunnels (eg Domodossola) to permit mass exclusions...

Be prepared to be as autonomous and mobile as possible: camping and cooking material, including some food imagine shopping on Ascension weekend in a besieged provincial city...; as many bicycles, rollers, etc.

Bring a small radio, special broadcasts are planned.

Bicycles or any rolling objects might be very useful.

CONSULT http://squat.net/contre-attaque/ AND OTHER SITES FOR DETAILS, MAPS AND HIGHLY PROBABLE LAST MINUTE CHANGES !!!

Please let us know if you are coming ! It is soon and we have no idea on who or how many....!