This scene is from a Manila protest against Filipino President Benigno Aquino’s state of the nation speech on Monday, where he laid out plans for increased militarism in the country. We’ve seen riot cops & soldiers attack unarmed strikers & protestors in almost every country with truncheons, water cannons (including with toxic dyes), tear gas, rubber bullets, bulldozers, & tanks. The right to public protest is being violently wrested from our hands in order so the oligarchs can impose regimes of subservience & austerity. Democratic rights, including the right to assembly & freedom of speech can only be defended & advanced through massive opposition & by shutting the country down if necessary--as the miners & working people of Spain are doing. Our Spanish brothers & sisters are in the forefront of this international struggle now but they have been inspired by the struggles of people in Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Greece, Portugal, Chile, India, Nigeria, & the Occupy movement in many countries. The attack on democracy is global. The struggle for democracy is also international & demands not just sentiments of solidarity but an active & practical one, reaching out & joining hands with activists around the world in our pursuit of justice & freedom. (Photo by Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)
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