[stop-imf] IMF/WB Protests in DC: April 16

[Robert Weissman]

World Bank-IMF Protests Set This Week

By Paul Schwartzman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 13, 2005; Page B03


Opponents of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund announced yeste=
rday that they would stage two days of protests to coincide with annual mee=
tings the two institutions will host beginning Friday.

The organizers said the highlight will be a demonstration Saturday outside =
the World Bank's downtown headquarters, followed by a march to Dupont Circl=
e.

The organizers, who unveiled their plans at a news conference at the Nation=
al Press Building, said they expect several thousand participants, but they=
 acknowledged that they won't draw nearly the crowds of five years ago, whe=
n 20,000 convened for often raucous demonstrations.

Basav Sen, an activist with the Mobilization for Global Justice, which is s=
ponsoring the demonstrations, said the decline in attendance since that yea=
r might be a result of protesters being more focused on issues such as the =
Iraq war.

But Sen also said the demonstrations have created a substantial movement fo=
r change at the two 61-year old institutions, which protesters say promote =
policies that foster poverty and inequality. "We are not a fad. We are a mo=
vement," he said.

D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said he did not expect problems from pr=
otesters. Nevertheless, he said, police officials have adjusted days off fo=
r most officers to bolster security and put more officers on the street.

Police plan to shut down some of downtown to car and truck traffic Friday t=
hrough Sunday, an area bordered roughly by 18th, 20th, and by I and F stree=
ts NW.

"We'll have everybody working," Ramsey said. "We don't anticipate any probl=
ems."

As in the past, the organizers list four demands: that the bank open board =
meetings to the media; that it cancel the debts of impoverished countries; =
that it stop financing "environmentally and socially destructive" projects;=
 and that it stop "imposing harmful economic conditions" on countries.

Organizers have also found a new target for protest, the appointment of Dep=
uty Secretary of State Paul D. Wolfowitz as the World Bank's president. In =
fliers and news releases, organizers focus on Wolfowitz. He was described a=
s the "architect of and intellectual driving force behind the Iraq invasion=
 and occupation" in a newsletter issued by 50 Years Is Enough Network, a co=
alition of organizations opposed to the World Bank.

However, Sen said demonstrators do not want Wolfowitz to eclipse more funda=
mental concerns about bank policies. "It's one of our themes, but we don't =
want to overemphasize it," he said of Wolfowitz. "Wolfowitz is not going to=
 make [the bank] substantially different."

Damian Milverton, a spokesman for the World Bank, said the bank "respects" =
demonstrators' rights to "come out and share their opinions."

"But ultimately," he said, "we are as concerned as they are about helping t=
he poor. That's the bottom line. We differ in our opinion on how best to ac=
hieve that."

The bank, Milverton said, has talked extensively with nongovernmental and a=
ctivist groups on issues such as the environment and debt relief. Those dis=
cussions, he said, have "contributed" to the dwindling size of the protests=
.

"Those groups with serious views know they can talk to us," he said. "They =
don't have to stand on the street and yell."

The demonstrators are to stage their first protest at noon Friday outside t=
he Department of the Treasury, where finance ministers from the world's sev=
en wealthiest nations are to discuss debt cancellation for underdeveloped c=
ountries.

On Saturday, the demonstration is scheduled to begin at noon in Murrow Park=
, across from the World Bank, where the protesters have obtained a permit f=
or as many as 5,000 people. After that, protesters are to march north on 18=
th Street to Dupont Circle, where they plan to convene for "an afternoon of=
 music, poetry and creative education," according to a news release.

Staff writer Del Quentin Wilber contributed to this report.



Protesters Gear Up for Bank Meetings

  By ELIZABETH WOLFE
Associated Press Writer

April 12, 2005, 4:43 PM EDT


WASHINGTON -- Organizers of this weekend's protests against the World Bank =
and International Monetary Fund are encouraging a less combative tone than =
in years past.

Third World debt relief will be a major theme of protests slated to coincid=
e with the financial institutions' spring meetings, organizers said at a ne=
ws conference Tuesday.

The Mobilization for Global Justice, the main protest sponsor, and other ac=
tivists also plan to voice concern over Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy defense =
secretary and Iraq war designer who recently won approval to head the World=
 Bank.

With a permit for 3,000-5,000 people to march Saturday from the World Bank'=
s downtown headquarters to nearby Dupont Circle, organizers are not anticip=
ating the crowds that in the past have disrupted meetings and resulted in m=
ass arrests. They do, however, plan a festive afternoon of music and poetry=
.

Activists insisted that smaller demonstrations are just a snapshot of broad=
er opposition to U.S.- and European-driven economic policies, which they sa=
y benefit the world's richest countries at the expense of the poor.

"We will not have 30,000 people in the streets, but I think that we have mi=
llions of people around the world," said Njoki Njoroge Njehu, director of t=
he 50 Years Is Enough Network, formed in 1994 to mark the bank's 50th anniv=
ersary.