Wealthy enclave to host G-8 Summit
Georgia activists fight for right to protest
By Dianne Mathiowetz
Atlanta
From June 8 to June 10, thousands of visitors
will arrive on the Georgia Golden Coast. But they won't be the
usual families heading for the beach at the end of the school
year.
Instead, from Savannah to the barrier islands of St. Simon's
and Sea Island closer to the Florida border, tens of thousands
of security personnel, 3,500 journalists and more than 1,000
government officials will invade the area for the 2004 G-8
Summit.
At this annual private meeting of top officials from the
United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan
and Russia, global economic and political policies are
formulated. And so it has become an annual focus of
international protest.
Huge demonstrations demanding cancellation of the Third
World debt commanded the attention of past summits held in
Berlin and London.
In an attempt to prevent protest, recent summits have been
held in remote mountain resorts in Italy, France and
Canada.
The G-8 meetings themselves do not produce any specific
trade agreement or formal political alliance. But the
discussions held among top government officials of the
wealthiest countries affect the policies of the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund. These institutions have mired
billions of people around the planet in a vicious cycle of
poverty and disease.
Likewise, policies of international trade groups such as the
World Trade Organ ization, and free trade deals like NAFTA and
the Free Trade Area of the Americas, are hashed out at G-8
meetings.
The impact of corporate globalization promoted by these
entities has forced millions of workers in Africa, Latin
America and Asia into sweatshops, producing goods for the
industrialized countries; undercut local agriculture and driven
up food prices; ravaged forests; poisoned water, air and soil;
and stripped countries of their mineral wealth.
Resistance derails Bush plans
First held in 1975, the summits have increasingly become a
U.S. government tool to line up support for its more aggressive
economic and military strategies, such as sanctions and war on
Iraq.
When President George W Bush announced in July 2003 that Sea
Island would be the site of the next G-8 meeting, he as the
host indicated what the main agenda items would be.
Bush said he anticipated making his "Greater Middle East
Initiative"--a plan to remodel the Middle East more to the
liking of neo-cons like Cheney and Wolfo witz, and of
international banks and oil companies--the centerpiece of the
G-8.
In addition, advancing free trade proposals and securing
greater cooperation in the "war on terrorism" were identified
as high priorities as the Bush administration sought to use the
summit to boost the re-election campaign.
In a later statement about the G-8, Bush declared it would
be the "environmental summit," to showcase how environmental
stewardship is compatible with a strong capitalist economy.
Just as the reality of mass opposition to the occupation of
Iraq, failure to find weapons of mass destruction, and the
unfolding prisoner abuse scandal puts the lie to all the White
House's political mouthings about "bringing democracy to Iraq,"
the choice of Sea Island exposes another contradiction.
Sea Island is a privately owned, small barrier island. It is
home to some of the wealthiest people in the United States.
They inhabit multi-million-dollar "cottages" in which most
live for only a few months of the year. Most belong to the Sea
Island Club, whose initiation fee is $100,000.
The dominant landowner is the Sea Island Corp., which
operates the Cloister, a very posh hotel that will serve as the
summit's meeting site.
Across the causeway on the mainland is Brunswick. This is a
predominantly African American city of about 16,000. People in
Brunswick make their living working the docks, as commercial
fishers, or at chemical plants and pulp mills.
Brunswick is one of the most polluted towns in the United
States. Toxic wastes like mercury, toxaphene, benzene, form
aldehyde and creosote have been released into the air, soil and
water by chemical plants owned by companies such as Hercules
Inc., and by pulp mills operated by Georgia Power.
In this single small town alone, there are four identified
Superfund environmental cleanup sites. Glynn County, which
includes Brunswick and Sea Island, has 16 hazardous waste
sites.
Residents of the area complain of elevated rates of
respiratory ailments, liver disease, and cancer as they
struggle to get sufficient funding from the federal government
to clean up the toxic materials.
Coincidently, according to company managers, the Hercules
plant is scheduled for maintenance work during the week of the
summit. So it will not be fouling the air with the usual
overpowering odor.
Repressive measures challenged
Under the direction of the Department of Homeland Security,
Draconian measures to repress any opposition to the G-8 Summit
have been implemented by local and county governments in
Brunswick and Savannah.
Ordinances were enacted that require organizers of any
public gathering to get millions of dollars in insurance, and
to pay for police services. Other provisions make it illegal to
stand on a public sidewalk with a sign.
Legal action brought by the American Civil Liberties Union
has forced local officials to back off on many of the most
egregious violations of free speech and assembly rights.
However, some protest organizers have already lost their jobs.
Police intimidation has prevented the rental of privately owned
facilities. And the local media have stirred up reactionary
elements by labeling G-8 protesters as "terrorists" or
"anarchists."
Statewide, police forces have been trained in the crowd
control methods employed in Miami during FTAA protests last
November. Israeli "counter-terrorism" trainers led a number of
the classes.
In Miami at the FTAA protests, police arrested hundreds.
They gassed, clubbed and fired rubber bullets at thousands.
Despite the government's intense efforts to deny visibility
to any protest, local activists, joined by progressive groups
around the state, have planned a number of activities for
Brunswick and Savannah during the G-8 Summit.
For example, a Fair World Fair, with exhibits, information
tables, children's activities, speakers and cultural
performances, is being set up in Brunswick.
In Savannah, a permit has been issued for Forsyth Park in
the downtown area for June 8-10. A March for Peace and Civil
Liberties will be held on June 8, starting at the Civil Rights
Museum at 10 a.m.
Bush is scheduled to deliver an assessment of the summit's
accomplishments at a June 10 news conference. His appearance in
Savannah is sure to galvanize large numbers to come to Forsyth
Park from 4 to 7 p.m.
For a complete list of activities, visit
www.g8carnival.org.
Reprinted from the May 27, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
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