Global Notebook 6/01
World Bank Blinks, Then Blames Protesters
BARCELONA — The World Bank has a new tactic to deal with resistance: cancel a meeting and blame its critics. In May, Bank spokeswoman Caroline Antsey explained that the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE), originally slated for Barcelona on June 25-27, wouldn’t be held, except possibly online.
"Despite our efforts to reach out to some of the groups planning demonstrations, and to include them in the conference, the intention of many of the groups … is not to join the debate or to contribute constructively to the discussion, but to disrupt it," she charged. "It is time to take a stand against this kind of threat to free discussion."