Press Release PGA Bloc-Montreal
PGA-Bloc Montreal, 21.08.2007 15:06
The visible and audible presence of hundreds of protesters near the Château gates -- who refused protest pens and insisted on pushing the riot-police line to try to scream their rage in the ears of Bush, Harper and Calderon -- is a contribution to the global anti-capitalist and anti-colonial movement that we are a part of.
For immediate release
Montreal, August 20, 2007
Today, despite the militarized security perimeter, despite the fear and
paranoia created by the police in the region of Montebello for weeks, despite the steel fences and thousands of policemen, upwards of two thousand protesters still came to the gates of Château Montebello to voice their opposition to the "Security and Prosperity Partnership." We expressed our indignation and fury against colonial and racist policies; the SPP is called a "dialogue" but it's really the continuation of the exploitation of the most oppressed.
The intensive militarization of the Château is a striking reminder of the reality of "Fortress North America", with multiple barriers, walls and fences that are put into place in order to further marginalize oppressed communities, whether that is here on occupied indigenous land, in Palestine, at the US/Mexican border, or in other places all over the global south.
The reality of Fortress North American in Montebello means: a high school that is converted into a detention center; protesters arrested on bogus charges forced to appear in front of improvised courts; lawyers whose phone calls to detainees are refused; police who indiscriminately use tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets at protesters; steel fences and protest pens; all in addition to the riot police, helicopters, and boat patrols.
The visible and audible presence of hundreds of protesters near the Château gates -- who refused protest pens and insisted on pushing the riot-police line to try to scream their rage in the ears of Bush, Harper and Calderon -- is a contribution to the global anti-capitalist and anti-colonial movement that we are a part of.
The struggle against colonialism, imperialism and precarity, and for justiceand dignity, did not start in Montebello and will not finish there either. The actions of today are but one expression of a larger movement, global in scale, which continues in our day-to-day struggles.
PGA-Montreal
Media contacts: Mandeep Dhillon: 514-909-9991, Farha Najah: 514-243-2776
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