Protesters rally to denounce Trump, WEF
THOUSANDS of people marched through Swiss cities to protest against a planned visit by US President Donald Trump to the World Economic Forum (WEF) and broke through a security cordon in Davos.
Leftists organisers called for the protests under the mottos “Trump Not Welcome” and “Smash WEF!”
Trump is due to address the WEF in Davos tomorrow, an annual meeting of global business and political leaders where protests have been banned.
About 20 demonstrators broke through security to reach the Davos Congress Centre, holding banners and shouting “Wipe out WEF” before they were disbanded by police.
“Trump is just one of the people we disagree with.
“We’ve been protesting every year now against the World Economic Forum and if Trump comes or not we don’t care… maybe Trump’s just the best symbol of this world,” protester Alex Hedinger said.
More than 4 000 Swiss soldiers have been deployed to guard Davos alongside 1 000 police and a no-fly zone is in place. Police estimated that there were 2 000 demonstrators in Zurich. They carried flags and anti-globalist and environmentalist placards such as “No Trump, no coal, no gas, no fossil fuels” as they marched toward Zurich’s financial district, where bankers had been warned to stay clear of the approved demonstration.
Swiss television RSR showed a sign that read “Who was the sh**hole?” in reference to reported remarks by Trump about Haiti and African countries, which he has denied.
Several hundred protesters also marched in public squares in Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg. Geneva signs read “World Economic Fiasco”, “racist sexist capitalist” and “Don’t touch women’s rights”.
Geneva protest organiser Paolo Gilardi said: “While the Swiss cabinet is about to unroll the red carpet for Mr Trump, we think the population has something to say.
“This policy is unacceptable because the goal… is to reduce the planet to fire and blood and to assure powerful people’s domination over the rest of the world.”
Earlier in Geneva, protesters laid a wreath at the US diplomatic mission in memory of Heather Heyer, killed in Charlottesville, Virginia, amid clashes between white supremacists and counter-protesters last August.