WFDY CONDEMNS G20!

The World Federation of Democratic Youth joins the international and cross-Canada condemnation of the recent G8-G20 meetings, and the sinister agenda of these imperialist, billion-dollar extravaganzas.

The WFDY calls upon the Canadian government and appropriate local authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those arrested, drop all charges, and for a full, independent public inquiry into the events.The G-summits, which have placed the city of Toronto under siege with billion-dollar security, will deliver further austerity measures against the workers, the youth and the people in the name of ‘balanced budgets.’ However, was not the youth or the workers who created the economic crisis but rather the imperialists themselves. We ask the governments and world leaders — what should the billions of youth and students, women, aboriginal people and workers’ families should do, when they will not be able to pay the bills, fees, taxes, when they will not be able buy the necessary food for their families. What will the government do, will it send them all to prison?

Unrepresented in the corporate media, the majority of the demonstrations were peaceful. The week was characterized by lively, creative and democratic resistance, culminating in a mass rally of 25 to 30 thousand. However, we condemn the ‘police riot’ and repression tactics used at the protests such as use of police agents, political police or intelligence forces, deliberate provocation, tear gas and rubber bullets, and the historic violent arrest and detention under bad conditions of over 1,000 of demonstrators — including youth activists, random bystanders, and Québécois.

This police repression was not random but no doubt orchestrated in advance by all levels of the Canadian state. The goal was clearly to intimidate dissent and divert public attention from the real issues of the G-summits. However, youth should take heart for the economic crisis which also shows imperialism’s weakness. As long as the problems of imperialism remain unsolved — war, unemployment, genocide, misery, environmental injustice and climate change, oppression of women, racism, hunger, and other scourges — there will be resistance. We call on all the young people to grasp the depth of the global attack against them, and to boldly rally their forces in a united battle. The young people are at the front, united with the workers, of the resistance in Greece and Europe today, in Latin America, and around the world. The power of people’s forces is rising.

The world and mankind don’t need any sort of G’s (G8, G20, etc), but a policy of cooperation and solidarity among all peoples of the world, with no external interferences, guided by an economic model that is in favor of the peoples and not of the dominant classes, in other words, a world free of imperialism!

The young workers’ and students’ global resistance to economic crisis will be a major theme of the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students, to be held in Pretoria, South Africa, this December. At 30,000 young people, it will be the largest anti-imperialist gathering in the world. We welcome all progressive youth and students of Canada, Quebec and Aboriginal Nations to join us at this historic event!

Budapest, July 3rd

WFDY - World Federation of Democratic Youth

Fédération Mondiale de la Jeunesse Démocratique

Federación Mundial de la Juventud Democrática

WFDY is an International NGO with consultative status with UN (ECOSOC) and operational relation with UNESCO. Peace Messenger award by UN Secretary General in 1987 for solidarity with Palestine.