Written for A-Infos
Andrew Flood, Barcelona, 29 July 1997

The second encounter for Humanity and Against neoliberalism is underway in the Spanish state. I´m reporting from Mesa 3.C which is the area discussing information and the media. 100 of us are meeting in the Nou Barris Ateneu Popular. Here activists from many countries including Brazil, Turkey, Mexico, Ireland are talking about how the media under neoliberalism contols the distribution of information and how we can find ways to by-pass this control.

Altogether there is about 3,000 people taking part in the encounter. We gathered in Madrid to register and for the opening celebrations. Two Zapatistas who travelled from Chiaps read out statements from the EZLN at the opening empahsising the common struggle we are engaged in against the global power. Then the encounter split up to travel to five different parts of the Spanish state to spend four days discussing specific topics. 1,200 of us travelled to Barcelona overnight on a specially charted train.

On Thursday we begin the long journey to the far south of Spain to the squatted agricultural estate of El Indanio, so far south it is described as part of North Africa! Here all the activists will gather to report back on the individual discussions and to celebrate the succesful close of the conference.

For more information on the gathering see http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/3102

(the above URL is from memory, if its wrong go to www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/2419/andrew.html

Andrew Flood