Venezia - 21.00 - A last salute from Laboratory Morion where the images and videos of today’s actions are being put together.
Venezia - 20.45 - Update in Espanol.
Audio 07 | Espanol
Venezia - 20.25 - Luca Casarini speaks from Campo Santa Margherita: "These have been two days of truely diffused struggle." He speaks against the Rifondazione Communista party that held a press conference attacking these protesters as violents. This is also the same party that signed a comunication declaring the NATO summit legitimate: "the movement is of those who do it, not those who want to use it for political gain!"
Venezia - 20.15 - The march has reached Campo Santa Margherita, where the political party Rifondazione Communista planned a festival, as an accomplice to criminalize the social movements against the NATO summit.
Venezia - 20.05 - A reccount of the day in English.
Audio 06
Venezia - 19.55 - The activists are heading from Santo Stefano to Campo Santa Margherita.
Venezia - 19.50 - All of teh activists are Santo Stefano square, where they are preparing to go on the march again.
Venezia - 19.40 - All of the protesters decide to gather in Campo Santo Stefano. The three that were arrested have been released...
"The situation on the inside was very nervous. They managed to find a humiliating way to let the NATO delegates in: about 150 passed as a result of the police attacks and a back door / service entry to the theater." Alessandro Metz comments after being "behind enemy lines."
"The major Costa had the chance to give a good ending to these blocks, but chose the humilious one in the end. He is going to pay for his descisions and for the fact that he and the delagates celebrate while people are dying in Iraq."
Venezia - 19.20 - The block on Calle 22 marzo is still active.
Venezia - 19.20 - Calle dei Callegheri: The police have started to push the protestors into a smaller and smaller space. The street is only about 1.5 meters wide. "They want to open up a corridor to let the delegates pass. Teh activists decide to abbandon one block to reinforce this one.
Venezia - 19.15 - The block on Calle dei Callegheri is attacked to permit a small groups of delegates to pass. The activists are holding the block at the end of the bridge, but some delegates manage to pass. Simoultaneously, the police attack another blockade in campo S.Maurizio: "They rpobably want to gain as much space as possible."
Venezia - 19.05 - By violently attacking the blockade, thepolice have managed to push the activists back a few meters.
Venezia - 19.00 - On Calle da Verona, which seems to be a serice entry for the Fenice, activists are now blocking the musicians, explaining the situation.
Venezia - 18.50 - The police are tying to get some of teh delegates in by passing through the service entry of the Regional Palace.
Venezia - 18.45 - The activists are also blocking the Campiello dei Caleghieri because the police might try to get the delegates in by boat.
Venezia - 18.40 - Calle 22 Marzo: the first three delegates are blocked from entering into the Fenice. There are some samll scuffles in the streets.
Venezia - 18.35 - Teh fenice is absolutely inaccesable for the NATO war delegates. "We maintian our demands: the show is to be cancelled, and we dare you to try to attack out blocks!"
Venezia - 18.20 - NATO delegates are now arriving and trying to pass the blocks.
Venezia - 18.15 - "Hold your blocks!" These are the words despite the recent news that the police will attack all of the blocks within 30 minutes.
Venezia - 18.05 - Either the City of Venice cancels the show for the war delegate or the blocks remain: these are the conditions damanded for by the activists.
Venezia - 18.00 - The concentration in Calle Ventidue Marzo seems to be the largest.
Venezia - 17.55 - In Calle del Fruttariol, activists are forming lines in front of the police.
Venezia - 17.45 - Now there are a total of six blocks: Campiello S.Maria del Giglio, Calle della Verona, Campiello Marinoni, Campiello Gaetano annd Campiello Calegher. All of the Fenice entrances are now effectivly blocked. No one goes in.
Venezia - 17.40 - Ulia from the Cantiere of Milano tells us about groups of crazed police that are running frantically around the streets of Venice. For anyone who doesn’t know the venitian streets, they are like agigantic rat maze...
Venezia - 17.35 - Alessandro Metz comments from in front of the Fenice, verifying the condition of the two that were arrested. There are now 4 blocks in the little venitian streets that go toward the Fenice.
Venezia - 17.25 - Blocks are now forming all around the Fenice, trying to block the delegates entrance to the theater. Sarah immediately informs us that in one of the blocks, there has been some clashing with the police and two activists have ben arrested. The regional representative Alessandro Metz from Friuli is now going to see their condition. All of this is happening in Calle della Verona.
Venezia - 17.20 - In Calle Larga, a first blockad is formed, blocking one of the 5 entrance ways to teh Fenice theater, where the NATO delegates are to be entertained tonight. word is spreading and other blocks are beging to form around the city...
Venezia - 17.10 - After disembarking, one group of protestors is stopped by the police on a bridge headed towrds Accedemia. The police won’t let them pass.
Venezia - Ore 17.05 - Riiturning from Lido, Luca from the Cantiere of Milan comments, "It seems like we are still in the eye of the hurricane..."
Lido (Ve) - 16.55 - A corrispondance in Français.
Audio 05 | Francais
Lido (Ve) - Ore 16.35 - A corrispondance in Espanol.
Audio 04 | Espanol
Lido (Ve) - 16.00 - The march starts to turn back towards the boats. Just being here has already been a huge political victory: Just two days ago the police announced that no body would step foor on to the island of Lido, let alone reach the red zone.
Lido (Ve) - 15.50 - "We’ve arrived to the point that we are not supposed to cross, the red zone..." At this point the mach stops, forms lines with arms locked and approaches the red zone: a police blockade of over 5000, with tanks and a temporary fence. The police are all in full riot gear with billyclubs out. A small group of activists emerge from the mass with red smoke bombs. They hurriedly approach the police and create an gigantic, thick red smoke wall. "This is your red zone!" The police must move back a few meters.
Lido (Ve) - 15.40 - Jason, Global Project, tells us all about the actions and the protest in Lido against the NATO.
Audio 03
Lido (Ve) - 15.35 - Alessandro Metz, a regional representative from Friuli Venezia Giulia, speaks while activists use sand bags, barbed wire, smoke bombs and red paint to construct an impassable war scene in front of another hotel that is hosting delgates of the NATO.
Lido (Ve) - Ore 15.30 - In front of the Hotel Boulevard in Lido, an anti-war theatrical performance is held, constructing a trench with balck bags.
Lido (Ve) - Ore 15.00 - "In Falluja people die - In Venice you won’t celebrate - No Nato in Venice" says teh banner that opens the NoWarStreetParade.
"The sounds of war cannot be hidden by luxurious hotels. We are all global war diserters." says Luca Casarini from the microphone with the sounds bombs, machine-guns and tanks play on the sound system.
"You should think, citizens of Lido, that thanks these people, this type of climate is normal! Today we have come to bring the colors and sounds of war to those who want to hide them."
Lido (Ve) - 14.55 - Along the route, activists put up posters showing a corps in the streets of Baghdad with "Compliments!" written underneith
Poster 01
Poster 02
Lido (Ve) - 14.50 - The demonstration is now starting to move, very slowly, because teh participation is in the thousands.
Lido (Ve) - 14.35 - "Today is our first victory, of being able to come here to express out dissent to the permanent global war." Speeches are now starting from the enormous sound system in Lido.
Venezia - Ore 14.25 - A live corrispondence in English describing the activists who are preparing to start off on this No NATO demonstration.
[ Audio 02 ]
[ Video ]
Lido (Ve) - 13.45 - A first corrispondence from Santa Maria Elisabetta, Lido from the meeting point for the demonstration. The civil population feels like hostages under this military occupation imposed by the city council’s choice to host this event. Stores are closed, public buses cannot run, and even journalists can’t roam about. The island has become a military bunker that however is being broken by the actions and protests that have now arrived on the shores.
13.55 - Already from the boats, the activists are starting to see the level of militarization of the island. Special machine guns and small missle launchers have been mounted on the beaches of Lido.
13.30 - Activists are now taking the boats out the island of Lido where the NATO summit is being held.
13.25 - Marta tells us about the fantastic constructions that will accompany the demonstration to Lido: a bio-mechanical Bush, a Statue of Liberty covered in blood, and a numer of colorful banners to counter teh grey militarization of the city.
13.15 - The social Laboratory Morion in Venice has become a media point for all the activists in the area. We talk to various students from a number of different schools in the area that have come to gather , print, and copy information about the NATO to pass out in school assemblies.
13.10 - An interview with Hichta, an Indian activist with the Farmers Grassroots Labor Organization that has come to participate in this demonstration against the NATO. The organization has over 10,000 members and concentrates on Ghandi "non-violent" iniziatives to protest against neoliberal like Monsanto. She talks about "non-violent" iniziatives such as occupying and completely destroying a Kentucky Fried Chicken in India.
Audio 01
Venezia - Ore 13.00 - Domenico from Bologna confirms the arrival of the train in the Venice station. The train was occupied with a "symbolic" payment: 1 euro each for a ticket that would normally cost 10 euro.
"We are in front of the station and we have brought at least 500 people with us, but there are more trains comming in."
12.40 - The students at the school Franchetti say taht they will continue to occupy the school untill the end of the NATO summit in Lido. The summit is schedualed to close on Wedesday the 17th of November.
Venezia - Ore 12.30 - The tains from Milan, Trieste and Bologna are arrive in the station of Venice. There are hundreds of protestors already wainting outside.
We also get news of a newly occupied school: the classical high school Franchetti has added its name on the list of schools occupied against the NATO.
Lido (Ve) - 12.15 - From the main steet where the demonstration will take place, we get our first corrispondences of what the scene looks like: With the constant helicopter noise over head, and police forces at ever angle, including a mass where the "red zone" starts, the residence and citizens are wondering more and more why they have been put into this ludicrious spectacle, feeling like prisoners in their own home.
11.40 - We hear from Federico, live from the assembly "Venice, city of Peace" promoted by the Greens and the Città Nuova group at the university, Cà Farsetti. The assembly has as a subtitle, "NATO instrument of war. Cooperation and Solidarity agaisnt Militarism and Neoliberalism." This confrence is being participated in by the parlamentary members Luana Zanella, Francesco Martone and Elettra Deiana; as well as Gianfranco Bettin (vice major), Giuseppe Caccia, Sandro Bergantin and Flavio Dal Corso representing the City of Venice.
11.00 - Roberto Ferrucci, a Venitian editor, talks about the occupation and militarization of the city because of the parlementary assembly of the NATO. He comments, "The next time they should at least talk to the citizens before hosting this type of event in Venice, a peaceful city."
Monselice (Pd) - 10.20 - The first corrispondences are coming in from the Italian companions in other cities. Occupied trainst are now leaving from Bologna and Milano, to cross ofver central and north Italy, stopping in every city to pick up more protestors heading for Venice.
Friday November 12th 2004 - Venice - War? No Party! - Venice - Grassroots sanctioning against a militarized city
