Tuesday, February 08, 2005

The protesters won

All those protesters at the world's economic summits over the last few years have been reviled and trivialized by the media and dissed by the politicians and teargassed by the police.

But now they have won -- The Globe and Mail: Canada offers debt-relief plan: ". . . despite the confusion and disagreement at this weekend's summit, it will be remembered as the moment when the rich countries agreed to take on all the debt of the poorest economies. 'What will be known as the '100-per-cent debt summit' owes its progress to the millions who have campaigned for justice, for the strength of their resolve, the vision of their leadership, their determination in pursuit of a great cause' . . . "
They haven't won everything, of course, but they have succeeded in forcing the finance ministers from the richer countries do what the world needs done.

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