On April 20-21 2002 the IMF will be having its annual spring meetings in Washington D.C. Between 10-50,000 activists are expected to protest this event in conjunction with other numerous other protest activities on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday April 19-22. Some of the activities and groups are listed below. WE URGE EVERYONE TO COME TO WASHINGTON D.C. AND PROTEST ALL OF THE CAUSES AND MAKE THIS A TRULY MASSIVE MOBILIZATION!!!!!!!


Overview of the Spring and Annual Meetings
SPRING MEETINGS
Each Spring, the joint Bank-IMF Development Committee and the IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee hold meetings to discuss progress on the work of the Bank and Fund. Plenary sessions of the World Bank and IMF's Boards of Governors are only scheduled during the Annual Meetings in the autumn.
ANNUAL MEETINGS
Each autumn, the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF) hold their Annual Meetings to discuss a range of issues related to poverty reduction, international economic development and finance. The Annual Meetings provide a forum for international cooperation and enable the Bank and Fund to better serve their member countries.
The Annual Meetings traditionally are held in Washington two years out of three and, in order to reflect the international character of the two institutions, every third year in a different member country. In addition to the meetings of the Boards of Governors, the Development Committee and the International Monetary and Financial Committee are officially convened.
Around these meetings, the Bank and the IMF organize a number of fora to facilitate the interaction of governments and Bank-IMF staff with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), journalists, and the private sector. Indeed, every effort is made to ensure that the Annual Meetings provide an effective forum for explaining to the public - directly and through the media - the tasks, objectives, and outcomes of the work of the Bank and the IMF. In this manner, the Meetings make a major contribution to openness and transparency.
About 10,000 people attend the meetings, including about 3,500 members of delegations from the member countries of the Bank and the IMF, roughly 1,000 representatives of the media, and more than 5,000 visitors and special guests drawn primarily from private business, the banking community and NGOs. In addition, Bank and IMF staff participate in the meetings with officials of government delegations.
www.imf.org/external/spring/2002/overview.htm



Mobilize for Global Justice
April 19-22 in Washington, DC

Come to Washington DC April 19-22 for an extravaganza of events and make your voice heard for global justice.

The World Bank and IMF will host another round of meetings in Washington D.C. April 20-21. These meetings come in the wake of the economic crisis in Argentina, where the free-market policies pushed around the world by the World Bank and IMF unraveled into real human suffering. They also come after the collapse of the multinational-corporate-giant Enron--a model of the abuses and strength of corporate power. The Mobilization for Global Justice calls on activists from around the country to converge in Washington, DC April 19-22 and make your voice heard.

The protests against the World Bank and the IMF will take place in solidarity and cooperation with the mass mobilization against the US Intervention in Colombia and the School of the Americas (SOA) and the April 20 March on Washington to Stop the War at Home and Abroad.

These issues are all part of the same fight for global justice. Military power often works hand in hand with economic institutions like the World Bank and IMF. Democractic resistance to the privatizations, forced relocations and economic austerity measures pushed by the World Bank and IMF are often suppressed by military force.
www.globalizethis.org/s30/

The National Mobilization on Colombia - April 19-22, 2002 Washington, DC
Colombia Events

4/19: SOAW Vigil & Lobby Action at the Capitol
4/20: Colombia Teach-In: Workshops, Strategy Caucuses, Skills & Nonviolence Training
4/21: Rally, Action Planning, Nonviolence Training
4/22: Colombia Solidarity March & Nonviolent Direct Action

US military aid to Colombia over the last couple of years has violently inflamed a 40-year-old civil war and poisoned the people and biodiversity of the Amazon River basin, without reducing the supply or abuse of illegal drugs in the US one bit. NOW, hawks in Washington want to increase and expand US involvement in Colombia to direct counter-insurgency and corporate protection.

We can- and must- act to change these policies! This April we will meet and share, protest and lobby, reflect and march.
www.colombiamobilization.org/
March on Washington, D.C. April 20th, 2002
The "War on Terrorism" Breeds More Terror
The White House promises a war without end*. Under the pretext of strengthening security, our democratic rights are being further eroded, hundreds of people have been "disappeared" into jails and prisons, and corporate interests are shamelessly trying to use this crisis to their advantage. It is clear: unless we, the people of this country, rise up and come together now, the future for us and for people around the world is very bleak. But united, as we have done in the past, WE CAN MAKE CHANGE! There is an alternative!

Join us on April 20th to demand:
· A U.S. foreign policy based upon social and economic justice, not military and corporate oppression.
· An end to racial profiling and military recruitment targeting youth of color and working class youth.
· Government funding for programs to benefit the economic victims of the 9-11 attacks and the recession.
· An end to the degrading and secret imprisonment of immigrants.
· Increased funding for non-military-based financial aid for education
· Full disclosure of military contracts with universities.
April 20th Schedule Information

April 19, 2002
Lobbying
Teach-in & Skills Workshops/Trainings
Kickoff Plenary Panel
Evening Solidarity Concert

April 20, 2002
10:30a Gather at Sylvan Theatre (SW side of Washington Monument)
11:00a Stop the War Rally
1:00p March to the Capitol
3:00p Rally on the Mall (3rd street facing Capitol Bldg)


Our D.C. logistics committee is currently negotiating a drop-off point for buses. More information will be posted once it is pinned down.
www.a20stopthewar.org/
To End US Military Aid to Colombia
To STOP Aerial Spraying
To CLOSE the SOA
Monday, April 22 ~ 7-9 AM ~ Washington DC

The war in Colombia is raging, fueled by US military aid and training. And there is an alarming new development: the Bush Administration is pushing Congress to use the newest war -- the "War on Terrorism" -- to escalate US involvement in Colombia. They want to mount an all-out "anti-terrorist" campaign to protect US oil interests there. Even as they cut social programs in our country, they want another $537 million in Colombian military aid, $98 million of which will go to protect Occidental's pipelines.

If we allow that to happen, we know who will benefit, and we know who will bear the ultimate cost - - Indigenous peoples, Afro-Colombians and anyone else who stands in the way of the corporate globalization of Colombia are at risk as the massacres continue. We must take action!

The Colombia Mobilization calls upon all people of faith and conscience to act in nonviolent solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Colombia. Our goal is end U.S. support for the war in Colombia on all fronts: military, economic and ecological. Join us in Washington, DC, April 22 as we culminate four days of vigils, lobbying, teach-ins and resistance to U.S. Colombia policy. This is an historic opportunity for many diverse voices to be united in a resounding call for justice. Begin mobilizing now!

PEACE MARCH and NON-VIOLENT DIRECT ACTION

At 7 AM will we gather at the Washington Monument in a spirit of solemnity to honor those in Colombia whose lives have been lost or are at risk.

Then at the height of DC's Monday morning rush hour, we will begin our non-violent procession to carry our demands to Congress. Peace Keepers and Legal Observers will intersperse and accompany the march from the Washington Monument to the US Capitol.

Unlike other events during the Colombia Mobilization, we have not sought a permit for the march, so participation will carry varying levels of risk:

· No/Very Low Arrest Risk: Those who do not want to risk arrest can proceed as part of the march on the National Mall or on sidewalks toward the Capitol. This is within our legal rights even if others are in the streets. This group will proceed to a "safe" area in the Upper Senate Park near the Capitol where we have a permit.

· Arrest Risk: For those who are able to risk arrest, we call for affinity groups to plan creative, nonviolent actions and for individuals and affinity groups to join in the blockades, die-ins and other actions in the area of the Capitol. In addition, at the Sunday night coordinating meeting, individuals and affinity groups will have the opportunity to join in actions already being planned by other groups.

Those planning to risk arrest should be aware that

In solidarity with each other, all participants in the march and nonviolent direct action are asked to honor and act in accordance with the nonviolence guidelines (see below). These guidelines allow a diverse group of people to act together from a place of mutual trust, knowing what to expect from each other.

Additionally, ALL who plan to risk arrest are asked

- To participate in a nonviolence training session,
- To attend a direct action coordination meeting, and
- To send your affinity group representative to the spokescouncil meeting.

Nonviolence training sessions will be offered Friday, April 19 and during the teach-in on Saturday, April 20. The action coordination meeting will be held on Sunday, April 21 at 7 PM. The spokescouncil will immediately follow. The National Lawyers Guild, the Partnership for Civil Justice and the DC Justice and Solidarity Collective will offer legal advice, risk assessments and private question and answer opportunities at each of these meetings.

For those risking arrest, a 24-hour legal hotline will be staffed and legal support will be available throughout arrest, booking, trial and any follow-up that may be necessary.

www.soaw.org/

April Protests
The Anti-Capitalist Convergence has decided not to organize a national protest in April. We are issuing an international call for people to organize protests and actions against the World Bank, IMF, and capitalism locally on April 20 and 21. If you are coming to the anti-war protests in Washington on April 20th, the ACC will be on the streets in support of these actions. We are starting to organize at this time for a big international anti-capitalist protest to be held in Washington in October. Watch this website for more details.
Making Resistance Visible
www.abolishthebank.org/en/index.html
CALL TO PROTEST SHARON IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE, APRIL 19-22 IN WASHINGTON, DC

Just when we thought there couldn't possibly be any more reasons to take part in the April 19-22, Washington DC protests against the War* -- be it the war on terrorism in Afghanistan, the drug war in Colombia, or the war on the poor being waged by the IMF and World Bank -- the American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC) gave us another reason: they invited the war criminal Ariel Sharon to town.
Sharon, who was found by his own government to be indirectly responsible for the massacre of as many as 2000 Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in 1982, ignited the current Palestinian Intifada and then led a bloody suppression of the whole Palestinian society. Since September 2000, more than 1000 Palestinians have been killed, over 25,000 have been injured, and close to 600 homes have been demolished by the Sharon-led government.
AIPAC's annual conference brings together all the main forces of reaction and war. This year's conference is being billed as an event "to show support for the war on terrorism being waged by the U.S. and Israel". In addition to Sharon, both Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz have been invited to speak.
To have so many war criminals together at one event is too good of an opportunity to pass up. Therefore, we would like to invite all those committed to justice to join us April 19-22 in Washington, DC to protest another War, the war against the Palestinian people, and demand that Sharon be indicted for crimes against humanity.
More information and details about planned events, housing, etc. will be posted on SUSTAIN's website at www.sustaincampaign.org in the coming weeks. If you would like more information please contact SUSTAIN at sustaindc-AT-hotmail.com or 202 421 8599