Millau (France) (AFP)
Twenty years to the day after the "dismantling" of McDonald's Millau (Aveyron), dozens of farmers gathered Monday in front of the US sign to show that the fight continues. These indefatigable white-haired farmers, however, struggle to mobilize the younger generations.
"McDo, Ceta, we do not want it!" "Mercosur either, of course!", Happily improvises the group that paralyzes for twenty minutes road traffic, planting giant banners on the roundabout and posing for "family photo".
A person is missing, however, because on vacation: José Bové, former Green MEP and herald of the fight against "junk food", was one of five activists incarcerated for their action punch of August 12, 1999, became a key date in anti-globalization.
"Everything was organized and decided at the last minute - it is not a commemoration, but a gathering of veterans and others who are protesting against the new free trade agreements between Europe and different countries or countries. regions, all very dangerous for the health of citizens, for the future of agriculture and climate, "says Christian Roqueirol AFP, former retired sheep farmer, also incarcerated at the time.
In the summer of 1999, the World Trade Organization (WTO) authorized the United States to impose economic sanctions against the European Union, which refused to import beef "spiked" with hormones. And the idea of "dismantling" McDonald's had emerged.
- Maybe a "turning point" -
Twenty years later, "we are still in the same struggles, against a crazy globalization (...) and with an anthology of new agreements that have replaced the WTO", abounds Nicolas Girod, national spokesman of the peasant Confederation and milk producer in the Jura. He cites notably the agreements of Ceta (EU-Canada) and Mercosur (with several countries of South America), which France has signed but not yet ratified.
"Climate change is an integral part of our struggle because it is intimately linked to the very liberal and capitalistic economic form of our society," he says, arguing that these agreements include "climaticides".
However, Mr Girod concedes, young farmers are little mobilized. "It's hard to make them move, they are too busy with their daily lives, more difficult than at the time," he laments, pointing out that the number of farmers has been "at least halved in 20 years old, today we are less than 400,000 ".
And yet, the spokesman of the "Conf" does not lose hope. "We may be at a turning point and this can come from young people coming from the city", these neo-rural "very aware of climate issues and with the desire to give a new impetus to agriculture."
The trade unionist promises a "hot autumn" in action, perhaps at the next G7 in Biarritz at the end of August.
- "Aim for the moon" -
"It is very important to overthrow this meeting and create a counter-summit," said Roqueirol, addressing dozens of people, including a handful of "yellow vests" who answered the call. of the peasant Confederation and gathered on the banks of the Tarn, close to McDonald's.
Among them, Jean-André Waag, a 38-year-old market gardener, came with his wife and children.
"The McDonald's action changed my life, I was 18 at the time and I realized that we could do things differently," he says. He also finds that farmers of his age are not many to have made the trip. "Maybe the trade union struggle is no longer buoyant, maybe other struggles, like the defense of the territories, the ZADs, make more sense to them, but I think it takes both to move forward ", he says.
A little further, Léon Maillé, farmer Larzac retired and also incarcerated for the "disassembly" of McDo, pays tribute to "the idea of genius" of his "companion of struggle". "There must be crazy like him to launch a dynamic, we must always aim for the Moon, because if we miss it we fall into the stars".
© 2019 AFP