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From The Socialist newspaper, 15 December 2021
London solidarity protest: Rio Tinto out of Serbia
Protesting outside the London HQ of Rio Tinto (Click to enlarge)
Mira Glavardanov, North London Socialist Party
The Serbian diaspora in Britain protested in front of the London headquarters of mining multinational Rio Tinto on 11 December. The protest gave a clear and direct message to Rio Tinto: there is no place to hide.
We were supporting the large protests in Serbia against the lithium mining rights given to this company. This was not the first solidarity protest in London, but it was the largest.
People came from London, but other cities too, such as Brighton and Birmingham. The plan is for the protests to continue and get bigger.
The main demand was 'Rio Tinto, out of Serbia'! Short speeches said that Serbian people in their history have defeated much larger empires than Rio Tinto, and that we will be successful this time too.
However, Rio Tinto is not the only culprit. The priority of the corrupt Serbian government is profits of big business, rather than the interests of ordinary people in Serbia or the environment.
Every mention of the name of Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić was accompanied by loud booing. Rio Tinto has a long history of environmental destruction and human rights abuses.
In Serbia the expropriation law was passed recently. It would have allowed the government to appropriate land or property for "the common good".
It is widely believed that this law was passed in direct connection with the needs of Rio Tinto. The area rich with lithium is also agricultural land owned by small farmers.
This law has now been revoked following the big protests, which reveals cracks in Vučić's stronghold of power.
The anti-Rio Tinto protests are strongly anti-government, because it is recognised that the government is the accomplice of the dirty extractive industry. The Socialist Party and the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) take this further.
We argue that any capitalist government will bend under pressure from big business. Only by breaking with capitalism altogether can we ensure that the interests of working-class people and peasants are respected, and the environment is looked after. This must be the next step.
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In The Socialist 15 December 2021:
News
Tory cuts and privatisation leave NHS in crisis
Unions must fight for Covid workplace safety
Councils to make workers pay, again
What we think
Split Tories and spineless Starmer
End of the USSR
The legacy of the collapse of Stalinism
LGBTQ+ rights
Stonewall attacked by the establishment
Workplace news
Sharon Graham: 100 days as Unite general secretary - the challenges ahead
Fighting union leadership needed to win NHS pay rise
Support tube workers fighting back
South Wales Stagecoach victory
Yorkshire Stagecoach strikers confidence growing
Welcome support for striking Scunthorpe scaffolders
Guards fight for their grades on CrossCountry rail
Coventry bin workers strike against Christmas holiday cut
Sheffield couriers escalate and spread action
Uni support staff strike ballot
Barts health workers to strike for a pay rise
Worksop Wincanton depot strike builds
International news
Sudan: End military rule and poverty
Campaigns
Nana's eviction: Community vs heartless Labour council
London solidarity protest: Rio Tinto out of Serbia
Save St Mary's Leisure Centre in Southampton
Why we joined the Socialist Party
Selling the Socialist - Waltham Cross and Boscombe
Posters, car boot and socialist guided tour - some ideas to raise funds
Readers' opinion
TV review: Vaccine Wars: The Truth About Pfizer
Quiz 2021
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