Anti-war meeting with President Chavez

• From: alan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Alan)
• Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 16:05 +0000 (GMT Standard Time)

http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=767

We started the day with another CODEPINK / Women Say No To War march through the 
streets. With our umbrellas, banners, Cheney and Rumsfeld masks and a fabulous 
mix of activists. We went the other direction this morning, towards the tents 
from the various countries. June, Woody and I hung the giant pink slip off the 
Anauco, one of the main hotels of the WSF, it faces everything, the tents and 
the Hilton, the other hub, it stayed up for about 6 hours. We watched as the 
team below snaked through the streets handing our flyers for our afternoon panel 
and stopping for photographs. We all arrived at the panel room just in time to 
begin.

Yanar Mohammad joined the panel for the first hour, we had just run into her in 
the streets. Yanar is the head of one of the women's groups in Iraq, she can 
only be there about 6 months of the year because her life is constantly 
threatened. It was about this time 2 years ago that we did a women's march with 
her in the streets of Baghdad with other women's groups. Many of the people left 
the panel really amazed at what they saw and heard. Cindy was of course her 
fabulous self and Medea wove the whole program together. The 2 hours went too 
quickly, with the audience wanting more we had to end and be rushed off to a 
meeting Medea set up with President Chavez and other anti-war activists. Tiffany 
had to run off in another direction and represent us at the meeting of the anti 
war groups and Jamie had to get 2 huge suitcases of banners, pink slips and 
t-shirts back to the hotel.

On the ride to the palace, Medea helped us craft an agenda for our meeting. It 
was interesting to watch her move the other members of the delegation off 
wanting to tell the stories of what is happening in their countries to what we 
needed Chavez to do to help boost and support the movement. We had an hour to 
walk around the palace and question his Chief of Staff before moving into his 
office for our time with him. The atmosphere at the palace was so comfortable. 
It is called a palace, but it feels more like a home. No one stopped me when I 
started wandering around the halls, no one even asked questions. At the end of 
one corridor I push open a door and found the counsel room I knew so well from 
"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". We were well supplied with coffee the 
entire time, Chavez had to leave the meeting for 5 minutes to take an 
international call and as he left he asked for more coffee for his guests.

He was a doll. Generous, open, passionate, excited, stimulated by the requests 
and happy to be planning with us. He was realistic but willing to stretch. I was 
fascinated to learn what a well educated environmentalist he is. The next 
project of his administration is one focused on the environment. When we asked 
him to take a stronger leadership position in the international anti-war 
movement, he was happy to do so, and said "this is not a lost cause, we can stop 
this war." Cindy Sheehan sitting next to him, shaking her head. He spoke 
candidly about the power of the American Empire, how he watches it blackmail 
countries and other presidents. He spoke of being alone in fights because others 
don't have the independence he does.

Stay tuned for more on our meeting!

http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=767

Lord Cerne Abbas

We shall go on to the end, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, 
we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall 
fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall 
never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island 
or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then we would carry on the 
struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and 
might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old." 

To rebel is right, to disobey is a duty, to act is necessary ! 

http://www.veloceraptor.free-online.co.uk/identity.html

http://www.veloceraptor.free-online.co.uk/mylinks.html

http://lordcerneabbas.blogspot.com/

.

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