Dear Renaissance Network list (rn-list), May 19 Richard had a very important week in Geneva and, thanks to his having the use of the WILPF (Women's International League for Peace and Freedom) office, was able to send and receive some messages. Now he is home, going through the hundreds of messages that accumulated while he was gone and I am finally getting enough courage to write to you. I want to share with you some of Richard's thinking while on the trip. As you know, by the time he left, we knew that many people who had been hoping to attend the workshop would be unable to do so. The need to work away at keeping up our electronic connections and also those by snail-mail & fax, is apparent. And also the need to "rethink"... In one of his messages to me, Richard wrote: "Yes indeed "rethinking" is alive and well. All of us coming together in Bear River and surrounding tour will be very important for all of us! It's just that we don't know exactly in advance what it will mean -- there is more and more a spontaniety, a discovering. In the beginning I had this very structured concept and anticipated that it would all happen that way and now it has not turned out that way. THAT IS ALL FOR THE GOOD. THAT MEANS IT HAS GRADUATED BEYOND MY ORIGINAL VISION. I sincerely apologize to you (and many others) for resisting change and not being as open as I could have been. I can only hope that I have served as a kind of flywheel or rudder that kept us from drifting or losing hope, and the fact that I wasn't quite on the right course (!) wasn't really that important!! Keeping the ship afloat means that when we _do find our right direction, we have a ship to steer! (Make sense???)" YES! this makes sense. I (and many others I am sure) need the energy, conviction and "indomitableness" of the Richards of this world to march on! As the above snip-it suggests, Richard found something in Geneva which opened the doors to change. Read on ---> ********************************************************************* Richard meets Sergio Hernandez of the "Peoples Global Action" movement: "I met someone today who has made the week in Geneva worthwhile even if nothing else had happened here! His name is Sergio Hernandez and he seems to be the strategist behind something called "Peoples Global Action" (PGA). ... He is Spanish, and carries forward the tradition of the liberation movement from the 30s. For anyone who thinks that movment "failed", I would remind them that it took the combined efforts of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco and Stalin, with the de-facto support of the US, UK and France, to defeat the liberation movement. The movement was defeated, but it did not "fail". The PGA vision has many similarities to the one that has been articulated for cadre: 1) it aims for radical systemic change 2) it is a coalition of movements, not an organization 3) it emphasizes communication & conferences, not funding & membership 4) it is creative, well-informed, strategic, and growing 5) it is based on non-violence, although it does not "judge" other approaches (eg, in Chiapas) ... PGA is affiliated with the Peasants without Land movement in Brazil, with _very important movements in India, etc. Some of its coalition meetings have had 4,000 people. ... PGA has organized a _massive demonstration here in Geneva for Saturday. A special train is coming from Italy, people are coming from every part of Switzerland, bicycle brigades are coming from Germany. The demonstration is aimed at making public opposition to the WTO highly visible here in Geneva prior to the ministerial meetings next week. PGA has also organized a parallel seminar on "Globalization and Resistance" at the University of Geneva. (I'll spend some time at both). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Richard has been VERY impressed with the PGA's manifesto and will be posting more about possible ways for Citizens for a Democratic Renaissance (cadre) and the PGA to collaborate. Since many of us will want to see for ourselves as best we can what this group is all about, here is their electronic contact information: email: •••@••.••• http://www.agp.org -------------------------------------------------------------------- I will close with something César Roberto Magellan, our main cadre contact person in Brazil, sent just this morning: Sergio Hernández [of the PGA, who Richard met with, has a name which is "homophonal"] of a Spanish Republican poet who wrote a verse that fits very well both CADRE and PGA struggles: "walker, the walk is making at walking" ("caminante, el camino se hace al caminar"). [Or, how about this translation: "Walker, the path is made as you walk"? And so, "march on!"] in solidarity, César Roberto 1848 / 1998: Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt euch ! Without fear to be happy! --- Sem medo de ser feliz! (the Workers's Party motto) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- all the best, rebel Jan Jan Slakov, Box 35, Weymouth, NS, Canada B0W 3T0 (902) 837-4980 Democratic Renaissance messages: Mail to: •••@••.••• --- "Seeking an Effective Democratic Response to Globalization and Corporate Power" --- - an international workshop for activist leaders - June 25 <incl> July 2 - 1998 - Nova Scotia - Canada --- Restore democratic sovereignty Create a sane and livable world Bring corporate globalization under control. * CITIZENS FOR A DEMOCRATIC RENAISSANCE (CADRE) * CADRE home page -> http://cyberjournal.org CADRE library -> http://cyberjournal.org/cadre/cadre-library PPI home page -> http://cyberjournal.org/cadre/PPI-archives (Peoples Press International) ~================================================~ To subscribe to the PPI newsfeed simply send an empty message to: <•••@••.•••>: ~================================================~ To keep "in the loop" on workshop prep. send an empty message to: <•••@••.•••>.