|
The Boston Globe June 16, 2003, Monday ,THIRD EDITION SECTION: NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. A3 LENGTH: 513 words HEADLINE: PROTESTERS TO CONVERGE ON AGRICULTURE CONFERENCE IN SACRAMENTO BYLINE: By Bobby Caina Calvan, Globe Correspondent BODY: SACRAMENTO - An upcoming world agricultural symposium organized by the US Department of Agriculture has police girding for riots, although no one's sure how many protesters will converge on California's capital later this month to demonstrate against biotechnology, genetically modified food, and corporate farming. A thousand invited guests from around the world, including agricultural ministers from at least 100 countries, will gather in Sacramento June 23-25 for the first US-sponsored Ministerial Conference and Expo on Agricultural Science and Technology, the largest international conference ever to be held in Sacramento. Unwelcomed guests could arrive, too, and law enforcement officials have been preparing for months to avert a repeat of the riots that disrupted the 1999 meeting of the World Trade Organization in Seattle. The tens of thousands who demonstrated caught Seattle off guard and caused millions of dollars in property damage. "We're planning for the worst-case scenario," said Sergeant Justin Risley, spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department. "We are well prepared. . . . This is not going to be Seattle." Last Tuesday, 200 police officers trained with nonlethal ammunition and rehearsed procedures for crowd control. In all, two dozen local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies will monitor the event. Language on websites and other published material have caused police to be wary, Risley said. The Organic Consumers Association's website calls for a "massive protest" and conjures the "resistant spirit of Seattle." "We invite people to come out to share their viewpoints, but we want to send a clear message that we're not going to tolerate illegal behavior," Risley said. Demonstrators plan a rally at the steps of the state Capitol, a few blocks from the Sacramento Convention Center, where the conference will take place. They have scheduled teach-ins, fairs, forums, and street demonstrations. They are inviting agriculture ministers to go on eco-tours. Alice Waters, the maven of California gourmet cuisine, will host a dinner at a nearby hotel. "We want this to be a nonviolent, peaceful five days in Sacramento - but it doesn't mean it will exclude civil disobedience," said Heidi McLean, spokesperson for Sacramento Coalition for Sustainable Agriculture, one of at least a dozen groups taking part in scheduled rallies that begin this weekend. Demonstrators representing groups from as far away as Vermont are expected to join activists from the Northwest and California for the rallies. The USDA said the Sacramento event is not intended as a place for global politicking but as a venue to showcase this country's agricultural technologies and their potential for boosting food production and alleviating world hunger. Activists, however, see the conference as an opportunity for the United States to press WTO members, most of whom will have a representative attending the gathering, to reconsider trade barriers for agricultural products, and to soften resistance to genetically engineered food. LOAD-DATE: June 16, 2003 FAIR USE NOTICE: This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The International Forum on Globalization is making this article available in our efforts to advance the understanding of environmental, corporate accountability, human rights, labor rights, social justice issues, etc. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. |