The landless peasants of the Sem Terra movement from Brazil joined Andalucian peasants from the Sindicato de Obreros del Campo SOC and a representative of Via Campesina in connecting those institutions with the well known problems of land distribution, debt and food security. Activists against the Pla Hidrologic Nacional explained a plan to divert the Ebro, the biggest river in Spain. This plan, heavily backed by the ruling conservative party (who have close links to the developers) aims to irrigate barren areas in the south where big multinational corporations hope to find cheap labour for mammouth agricultural plants. This diversion of the river will affect ecosystems and the livelihood of people over a large area of Spain.

The Spanish ¨insumisos¨, who refuse both military and social services to the state and ask for the abolition of all armies, proposed new forms of global relations that do not entail the peoples of the planet to go to wars to kill each other for the preservation of the priviledges of the few on each side.

Workers from the telco company Sintel explained how globalisation affected their lives. Sintel was a public utilitiy company until it was sold at bargain price to the Cuban-American family Mas Canosa, best known for their ultra-conservative influence on US politics regarding Latin America. Mass layoffs followed and they have been in struggle for five years. Today, in unionised workplaces throughout Spain there was a general stoppage for an hour in solidarity with the Sintel workers.

A Colombian activist explained how Plan Colombia, now extended to the whole Andean region, works as a strategy to impose neoliberalism through violent suppression of the resistance from social movements in the area..

Also from Latin America, a representative of the Argentinian MOCASE peasant organisation gave a dark picture of the influence of neoliberal policies in that country. Spanish multinationals are buying virtually all public utilities and exploiting natural resources in Argentina. .

The connection among the many different convergences and actions happening this summer: EU at Gothenburg, bordercamps, Genoa, etc. became clearer after a group of migrants entered the stage. They talked about their experience in Fortress Europe, struggling with illegality. Several of them got their papers through a successful wave of occupations of churches throughout Spain, which pressurised the Spanish government to normalise the situation of a large number of migrants.

The role of states in globalisation was also highlighted by several speakers, as was the role of NATO as the armed police of the new neoliberal order.

Other speakers included the ever-present Susan George, International Women March and an activist fromQuebec who talked about the recent blockade of the FTAA summit.