Over 10,000 demonstrators marched on the streets of Nice on the first of November, to denounce the illegitimacy of G20 and the injustice of economic policies that it advocates. Indignant Spaniards and others, Wall Street occupiers, Greek and Senegalese rebels, Tunisian and Egyptian revolutionaries, Latin American, Italian, English, German, and French alterglobalization activists — all were there. Engaged in their own battles, they were united during the demonstration and a summit of peoples — witnesses to as well as participants in a veritable global eruption of people.
To the rhythm of sambas, colorful and lively marches demanded an end to tax havens, financial transparency, a real financial transaction tax, radical regulation of banks, a citizens’ audit of public debt, more funds for social programs and ecological transition, solidarity with the peoples of the South, food sovereignty, the free movement of women and men, and so on.
Video by Sophie Chapelle and Maxime Combes
For the organizers of the demonstration and the summit of peoples, the fact that more than 10,000 people assembled in Nice is “a true success given all the difficulties that we faced in a department that is a stronghold of the far right.” Held after the announcement of a Greek referendum on the European Union’s austerity plan, this festive demonstration, without any clash, testifies to an irrepressible demand for real local, national, and global democracy. Hiding behind thousands of police officers, gendarmes, and soldiers, as if in a citadel under siege, the representatives of G20 have no right to decide the future of the world while disregarding those affected the most: people and the planet.
Maxime Combes is a non-practicing economist, involved in Mouvements, Basta!, and Echos des alternatives (www.alter-echos.org). The original article “Indignés, révoltés et mobilisés contre un G20 totalement illégitime” was published by Alter-Echos on 2 November 2011. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com).
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