Discussion
Ask a question about 'Anti-globalization Protests in Prague' Start a new discussion about 'Anti-globalization Protests in Prague' Answer questions from other users |
Anti-capitalist Protests in Prague during the
International Monetary FundThe International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
(IMF) and
World BankThe World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
summit in September 2000 in
PraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, capital of the
Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
.
Various anti-capitalist protesters were seeing this institutions as one of reasons for the economic problems faced by the
third worldThe term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
. Thousands of activists who travelled from all over the world protested and some clashed with police in the streets of Prague for several days. Police estimated more than 15,000 protesters were involved.
Anger was directed against the way the IMF and World Bank pushed for a policy of directing power to the markets and
multinationalA multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
companies. Tear gas and
water cannonA water cannon is a device that shoots a high-pressure stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of metres / hundreds of feet. They are used in firefighting and riot control. Most water cannon fall under the category of a fire...
were used to force back a breakaway group of activists that attempted to reach the summit venue to shut down the meetings of the global financial institutions. In spite of the large police presence, the protesters succeeded in breaking up the last day of the summit.