[Marxism] Europe Clashes mar May Day celebrations - Al Jazeera

[Ralph Johansen]

["No one could have imagined that this crisis could have been so 
profound," Michael Sommer, head of the DGB trade union federation, told 
a crowd in Berlin. "There is no light at the end of the tunnel."]

Al Jazeera
UPDATED ON: Friday, May 01, 2009
19:26 Mecca time, 16:26 GMT

Europe Clashes mar May Day celebrations

Protesters in Moscow called for a return to communism [AFP]

Tens of thousands of May Day protesters have taken to the streets across 
the world, clashing with police in several European cities amid mounting 
social unrest over the global economic crisis. Traditional Labour Day 
demonstrations were reported to have turned violent in Germany, Greece 
and Turkey, while thousands of protesters rallied in Russia, France and 
Spain.

Hundreds of thousands of Cubans filed through Havana's Revolution Square 
where they were exhorted to work harder to help their country's battered 
economy.

Earlier, marches were held in the Philippines, Japan and Hong Kong, 
where demonstrators called on officials to work harder to protect jobs.

Cuba march

In Cuba, Raul Castro, the country's president, waved from a podium 
overlooking Revolution Square in the capital as the flag-waving crowd 
moved past. Castro did not speak, leaving that task to Salvador Valdes 
Mesa Cuban, a labour leader and high-ranking Communist Party official .  
Valdes spoke about Cuba's economic woes, saying three hurricanes last 
year and an ongoing global financial crisis had inflicted much damage. 
Workers, he said, needed to work to raise "production and productivity, 
for the reduction of costs and expenditures, to grow exports and 
[reduce] imports". Fidel Castro, who led Cuba for 49 years before ceding 
power last year to his younger brother, was not present, missing his 
third straight May 1 parade.

Bottles hurled

Twenty people were injured and five arrested after police clashed with 
demonstrators at a rally in the city of Linz, in north Austria. In 
Berlin, demonstrators hurled bottles and rocks at police on Friday, 
injuring a number of officers, while clashes were also reported in 
Hamburg. The protests were fuelled by the worsening financial crisis, 
especially in Germany, where the economy is expected to shrink by six 
per cent this year.

"No one could have imagined that this crisis could have been so 
profound," Michael Sommer, head of the DGB trade union federation, told 
a crowd in Berlin. "There is no light at the end of the tunnel."

About 5,000 officers were on standby in the German capital, where 
counter-demonstrations were also expected to cause havoc.

Turkish clashes

Clashes between police and demonstrators were taking place in the 
Turkish city of Istanbul, with hundreds of protesters battling riot 
police in the streets.

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in cities across 
France [AFP] Security forces fired water cannons and arrested several 
protesters, largely made up of union and left-wing activists.

The violence has overshadowed the landmark return of annual labour 
rallies to the city's central Taksim Square, where on May 1, 1977, 
suspected rightwing snipers killed 34 people.

Anita McNaught, Al Jazeera's correspondent reporting from Istanbul, said 
the square had "become a lightning conductor for protests because of 
previous crackdowns and because of the events of 1977. "Today, the 
decision has been made to allow a limited number of protesters to come 
right to Taksim Square to commemorate workers' day but also to 
commemorate the people who died in 1977. "This is a test of crowd 
control on the part of the Turkish authorities but also a test of 
restraint on the part of the demonstrators."

Call for communism

In Greece, police fired tear gas at demonstrators who burned a car in 
Athens, while other activists attacked banks and traffic cameras.
Thousands of protesters in Moscow called for a return of communism, 
waving banners and red Soviet flags.

Far-right protests also took place in Russia, with police arresting 
members of anti-immigration groups in St Petersburg.

Tens of thousands of activists took to the streets across France in 
protest against their government's handling of the economic crisis.
France's eight main trade unions had agreed to hold united rallies 
across the country for the first time since the end of World War II.

Leaders of Italy's main unions held a rally in the earthquake-hit town 
of L'Aquila, in a show of solidarity.

Source:     Al Jazeera and agencies