Demonstration in Vicenza against the building of the American military base nell'aereoporto Dal Molin. The procession of about 10,000 people, gathered under the slogan "No dal Molin, Yes we can" has been blocked by the carabinieri, with whom there have been clashes, then was able to continue. The protest against the base is going on for almost three years. The demonstrators asked the president Obama, on the American Independence Day, to look at the issue of the base, which should become the largest in Europe.
It all began when the previous Berlusconi government and the center-right mayor of the city decided to grant the airport to the U.S. armed forces, without informing the local population. It was born a spontaneous citizens protest, for a number of reasons: the excessive proximity of the new base at the center of the city, the destroying of a large green area, the risks to groundwater, the noise caused by aircraft, the feared presence of nuclear weapons in the future base, the likely future use of the property as the main base for the missions of the United States in the Middle East and Asia. The following Prodi government has confirmed the availability of the airport to the Americans, but the new mayor of the city called for a referendum so that the citizens could express themselves. But the referendum was rejected by the Council of State, although at first the administrative court of Veneto had ruled in favor of those who oppose the base, because it was the granted without the consent of local population. The mayor of the city still promoted a symbolic referendum, even if with no legal value, in which 20% of the city's residents went to vote against the extension of the base.
The basic principle which has not been observed in this case, as in the case of the High speed rail in Mugello and Val di Susa, is the need to consult local people when the state decides huge public works. It should be a sacred principle of democracy, but if decisions are taken by passing over the population on the basis of "general interest" determined by the Government at its discretion, then the democracy it is completely emptied of meaning.
Francesco Defferrari
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Comments
who is been helping the italian cityzens giving them work and renting their apartments/ homes at high rates when you guys pay just a portion of everything American pays. But the american are bad. you guys should see the whole picture before start talking.
V/R