Protest manifesto
On the 1st of June, Condoleezza Rice, the State Secretary of the United States of America, will be coming to Madrid. It will be the first official visit by a high representative of Bush’s administration, since the people of Spain denounced and demonstrated against the invasion and occupation of Iraq, as well as the inclusion of the Spanish army in the conflict.
The decision by Zapatero´s government to withdraw all Spanish troops from Iraq was a direct consequence of the popular pressure and rejection towards imperialistic wars.
Since then, the subordination of the Spanish Government to American imperialism has not diminished but has adopted a different approach. It immediately increased Spain´s involvement in Afganistan, under NATO`s command, intensifying military and political cooperation with USA through the training of soldiers and policemen for the “puppet” Government of Iraq, to crush the legitimate resistance of the Iraqi people. Another clear sign of the commitment with NATO and the WEU (Western European Union) has shown in 2006 and 2007, the highest ever increase in budget for military expenditure, a constant upgrading and expansion of US military bases in Spanish territory, and above all keeping the shameful bilateral treaty between Spain and the US.
The major involvement of Spanish troops in the occupation of Lebanon – hidden once again under the humanitarian mask of a “peacekeeping intervention” – perfectly fits Israel´s need (the aggressor State) to block the development of the Lebanese resistance and allowing them to continue the horrendous massacre of the Palestinian people.
From a broader point of view, Spain`s military force commanded by NATO serves the strategic interests for the military control of a region that has its key stone in Iraq; where the plundering of natural resources carried out by the biggest corporations clashes with the Iraqis determined will to resist.
The presence of Condoleezza Rice next June 1st in Madrid, which is being shown as a major achievement by the Spanish Government (who will as a consequence get backed up by the empire), is an insult to the people of Spain and the people of Madrid. Now that Bush´s Government imperialistic plans are being beaten by the Iraqi resistance and protests are breeding inside the US, in Arab countries, Latin America and elsewhere, this government prepares to honour and bow down to one of his highest representatives.
The public speeches by Zapatero and Condoleeza Rice against terrorism, cannot hide the fact that US Governments long history of terror against peoples has reached its peak with the kidnap and torture of 500 people in Guantánamo, who still live deprived of any kind of rights, releasing Posada Carriles, a well-known convicted terrorist in Latin America, or the arrest of 5 Cuban citizens while they were trying to avert attacks from Cuban extreme right against their country.
Despite her public statements, there is no doubt Rice comes to Madrid to demand a raise in Spain´s military efforts in Afganistan, Lebanon, and hence enforce the strategy that places Iran and Syria as the next targets.
Condoleeza Rice arrives in Madrid a few days before the Heiligendamn G-8 meeting, in Germany, where she will find strong protests led by social organisations, which we are part of, to denounce the exploitation of our people, the destruction of the environment and the military domination practised by the rich and powerful countries directed by the US.
The people of Madrid must show its total rejection to the pain and devastation caused by those who command the greedy capitalism. The popular sentiment against all wars and the support for the resistance of people everywhere must be clearly stated on the first of June, during the visit of one of the maximum representatives of capitalist savagery.
¡Condoleeza Rice, GO HOME!
¡Against all imperialist wars!
¡Complete withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon!
¡SAY NO TO NATO, TAKE YOUR MILITARY BASES AWAY!
Organisations that have signed this manifesto:
Alianza de Intelectuales Antiimperalistas, Alternativa Sindical de Trabajadores, Asociacià³n Pablo de la Torriente Brau, ATTACC, co.bas, Coordinadora Sindical de Madrid, Corriente Roja, Cristianos por el Socialismo, Izquierda Castellana, Espacio Alternativo, PCPE, CJC, Partido Humanista, Plataforma Sierra Norte, Estrella Roja, Ateneo Republicano de Vallekas, Colectivo Ciudad Lineal Por la III Republica, Asamblea de Alcorcà³n por la III República, Mayores Ecologistas de Ciudad Lineal, Coordinadora de Solidaridad con Cuba de Madrid, PRT-IR, CGT, Comità© de Solidaridad con la Causa àrabe, Comunistas 3, Agrupacià³n Universitaria Carlos Marx, CAUM, Repercusià³n, Lucha Internacionalista, CEOSI-Madrid, Agrupacià³n del PCE de Fuencarral-El Pardo, Los Verdes de la CAM, Candidatura Comunista por el Progreso de Aranjuez, Asociacià³n por la verdad sobre el 11 de septiembre, STES-Madrid, Cristianos de Base, Asociacià³n 26 de julio, Comità© de Madrid por la libertad de los 5
