Press release: 2nd November 2015
UK PEACE ACTIVISTS PART OF GROUP ENTERING PROHIBITED NATO ZONE IN SPAIN
Peace activists from the UK are part of a group of campaigners who this morning (11 am Spanish time) entered a prohibited military zone in the Sierra Del Retin in Southern Spain, currently in use as a NATO exercise area, in order to protest against the activities of the alliance and the appropriation of local lands.
The UK participants are all members of the anti-nuclear campaign Trident Ploughshares. After entering the prohibited zone this morning the protesters hung banners with such slogans as “No to Nuclear Nato” and “Give us back our land”. So far there has been no intervention by the police or military.
The UK activists are Barbara Maver, 67, Currie, Scotland, Gillian Lawrence, Scotland. Jamie Watson, Scotland, Angie Zelter, 64, Knighton, Wales.
The campaigners wish to draw attention to NATO’s involvement in Africa (see Note) and to the impact of the exercises, and the potentially permanent military presence, on the local area which has 60% unemployment.
Jamie Watson said,
“NATO is now set to plunder 2% of each member nation’s GDP to spend on cold war posturing, even as those nations meet with the rest of the world in Paris to try and reach agreement on sustainable use of the planet’s resources. An international threat to security and diplomacy demands an international response, and we are pleased to support our Spanish comrades in their struggle to evict NATO from the Retin as part of evicting it from the world”.
Angie Zelter said,
“A local fisherman told me that they are denied access to their fishing grounds for 3 or 4 days every couple of months while the military exercise in and around their town. They are paid no compensation for their loss of fishing and their houses shake with all the explosions. He said the war is already felt in their towns. As a global citizen I am acting with them.”
Contact Angie Zelter on 00-34—663448263.
Pictures can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/ofog
Note
NATO, Africa and the Spanish Connection
NATO is interested in Africa because of the conflict potential of climate change and because the continent is rich in abundant natural resources: minerals (platinum, chromium, magnesium and cobalt, among others), as well as oil and gas which represent an important part of global reserves.
In the power game over Africa Spain has an important role in maintaining the safety of the transport routes (Red Sea and the Horn of Africa) as well as looking after its own military and economic interests. The great majority of the military interventions of Spain take place on the African continent, or in the Middle East. Spain is responsible for the control of the “Southern frontier” of the European Union, for the containment of the migration of people who flee from poverty or war, guaranteeing that the consequences of the politics of exploitation of the continent do not have repercussions within “Fortress Europe”. Spain represents the spearhead of NATO in Africa.
These NATO’s exercises include the participation of Ukraine and are designed to send a powerful message to Russia. They are also aimed at restraining the expansion of China in Africa. All this is part of the imperialist competition between the military powers and their dependency on the commercial interests of the multinational companies. NATO’s ‘Trident Juncture’ only protects a privileged minority and increases global military spending, which is a detrimental to investment in our real security needs, such as combating the dramatic consequences of the crisis of capitalism, putting a break on environmental degradation, promoting just trade relations, economic solidarity and cooperation for a global development of our planet. In 2014 global military spending was 1.8 trillion dollars, and the global carbon footprint is immense.
(Note by Angie Zelter 2015)