ITALY:

A REPORT FROM VINCENZA, ITALY AND THE NO DAL MOLIN FESTIVAL AGAINST U.S. MILITARY EXPANSION AND WAR:

In the Fall of 2006 Molly and the wife visited the city of Venice. At that time the planned expansion of the US military base on Vicenza(in the 'Veneto'-the area of Venice) was in the news, most particularly in connection with a Papal visit to that city that was widely seen as giving support to conservative forces in Italia. The news was also very much mixed up with further reports of corruption on the part of then Italian President Silvio Bertusconi (corruption in Italian politics ? Is this "news" ?). The Vicenza base is presently a major staging area for the US military in its adventures in the Middle East. If the planned expansion goes through the Vicenza base will be the largest US military presence in Europe. Since the beginning of the plan there has been mass opposition to this project. Despite this the present "centre-left" government of Italia seems intent on continuing the work of their conservative predecessors. The latest event happened from September 6th to 18th under the heading of the No Dal Morin Festival. It included international speakers, and 300,000 people attended. The festival culminated with three days of direct action. A full report on the festival can be seen at the Anarkismo.net site at http://www.anarkismo.net/newswire.php?story_id=6417