BY SEAN HEALY
Some of the world's largest corporations came under fire in the southern Californian city of San Diego on June 24, when 1600 environmentalists marched on the annual convention of the Biotechnology Industry Organisation, to protest against genetic engineering and demand "biojustice".
The annual BIO convention is the world's largest gathering of biotechnology companies, scientists and engineers. Among BIO 2001's sponsors were Monsanto, AstraZeneca, Aventis, Merck and Bayer, all major players in genetic engineering and pharmaceuticals.
"Val Giddings of BIO says he hopes 90% to 95% of our food will come from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) within five years", British anti-GMO campaigner Luke Anderson and author of the book Genetic Engineering, Food and Our Environment, told the rally.
"When it comes to safety tests and labeling, they say GMO food is identical to conventional food. When it comes to patents, they say the opposite — that it's unique, that it's their invention."
For weeks leading up to the protest, San Diego authorities had run a deliberate campaign designed to tarnish protest organisers as violent and deter members of the public from attending.
Police allowed local television crews to film their military-style drills in full riot gear and threatened that everyone in the crowd would be subject to arrest even if one person broke the law.
San Diego police chief Dave Bejarano was clearly proud of himself, telling KNSD Channel 39 before the event, "For months and weeks leading up to this event, the organisers were actually trying to get anywhere from 4-, 8-, 12,000 protesters ... At this point, I don't think we're going to see more than 500 — a thousand would be tops — which is good news."
The march itself was subject to heavy police harassment. More than 200 police officers, many in full riot gear and some wielding tear gas guns, tracked the march and then hemmed protesters into a narrow space near the convention centre.
San Diego Independent Media Center videographer Donny Dailey said he even saw two undercover police officers infiltrate the march dressed as members of the anarchist Black Bloc. As the march progressed, they inched forward and ended up carrying the lead banner and shouting slogans targeting the police.
The march itself, however, was entirely peaceful, including a samba band, signs, costumes and puppets, one representing Gaia, the spirit of the earth, and another a top-hatted, cigar-smoking capitalist decked out with a sign "Monsatan".
"They told us it couldn't be done", rally organiser Brian Tokar told the crowd. "They told us that in San Diego, with its militarised economy and police force and its compliant media, there was no way thousands of people could march in the streets. Once again, we proved them wrong.
"People came out because the more they learn about the dangers of this technology, the more they oppose it. Our friends in San Diego have endured a media barrage for over three weeks that said we were scary characters they shouldn't associate with. Once again, people came out to say no to genetic engineering and the absorption of everything that's alive into the sphere of commercial products."