2 December 1999

Battle of Seattle

The World Trade Organization (WTO) had its convention in Seattle from 30 November till 2 December 1999. Some ten thousand demonstrators blocked the entrance and paralyzed the city during a week of protest. This action was the starting point of the antiglobalist movement. The French antiglobalist leader José Bové later said about Seattle: 'The 21st century began on 30 November 1999 in Seattle really, because for the first time in world history a coalition of peasants, workers, students and greens succeeded.'
(text Bart van der Steen)

Today in the Biographies Dutch Labour Movement