Italian Women Opposing New U.S. Military Base Lobby Capitol Hill

[donsu]

http://www.peaceandjustice.it/vicenza-dc.php


In historic Vicenza, Italy, the U.S. has plans to build a new military base, and never did they expect such strong opposition in the city that has been home to the base at Camp Ederle since 1955. Times have changed.

As news of the proposal leaked out in May 2006, following years of secret negotiations, the people of Vicenza, led by women, mounted a grassroots campaign the likes of which had never been seen in the hardworking town in the north of Italy. With little or no experience as activists, they organized debates, vigils and protests against the further militarization of their city. What began as a local movement grew to become a national cause in all of Italy, leading to a demonstration on February 17, which saw 200,000 people protest in this town of 120,000.

After a year of expressing dissent with their own government, only to see them give in to pressure from the U.S. in January, the organizers decided to take their message to Capitol Hill. With the help of U.S. peace activists, including Medea Benjamin of CodePink and David Swanson of AfterDowningStreet, I accompanied a delegation of 4 to Washington DC to lobby Congress and spread the word to the American people.

We met with Congress members and staffers, many completely unaware of the new base or the local opposition, which came as a surprise to Cinzia Bottene and Thea Valentina Gardellin, two of the women leading the Italian delegation. During the meetings, Cinzia and Thea talked of Vicenza's status, with its treasures of Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, as a UNESCO World Heritage site. They expressed the people's alarm at the impact the new base would have on the city, with increased traffic, pollution, water and energy consumption as well as risk to the ground water resources directly beneath the site, not to mention the concern many have of becoming a terrorist target. However, nothing was as telling as the photo taken from the hills over Vicenza showing the proposed base site in the heart of the city and just one mile from the historic center.

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One member of Congress stood out from the rest. Rep. Dennis Kucinich took a firm stand against the new base, stating that what we need to be doing is closing rather than opening new bases. He also offered to circulate a letter to his colleagues in the House asking that they oppose the base in Vicenza.
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thank you Dennis. and all power to the women of Vicenza (plus hugs and kisses)