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NEWS: Massive anti-austerity protests in Greece, Spain and Portgual

The New York Times reports on the “nationwide strike (in Greece) to contest billions of euros worth of new salary and pension cuts being discussed by the government and its international creditors (the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission)… The proposed cuts in Greece have ignited fresh anger in a broad swath of society here. …The industrial action was expected to generate crowds of up to 1 million in Athens, Greek television said, citing police estimates. …On Monday in Spain, thousands of demonstrators besieged Parliament to protest austerity measures planned by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Last week, more than half a million people marched in cities across Portugal to protest a rise in social security contributions.”

In March, the Blue Planet Project and the Council of Canadians expressed its solidarity with Initiative 136 in Greece, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=14187. That group is fighting against the privatizion of EYDAP and EYATH, the Athens and Thessaloniki water and sewage companies.

A report on the impact of austerity measures on the human right to water has been produced collectively by groups in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Bulgaria in collaboration with the Blue Planet Project. To read that report, go to http://www.blueplanetproject.net/documents/RTW/RTW-Europe-1.pdf.