Thousands of anti-capitalists poured into the French Riviera city of Nice on Tuesday for a march against corporate greed ahead of the G20 summit in nearby Cannes, echoing protests world-wide. Shouting "People first, not finance!", protesters from around Europe and beyond marched noisily along their assigned route in the city's outskirts on a sunny and peaceful national holiday in the Mediterranean city.
Around 100 Oxfam activists came from Spain, Belgium, Mexico, Britain and France, many wearing Robin Hood hats and carrying jute bags representing the stock exchange, demanding a tax on financial transaction. "I am Robin Hood, I demand (French President) Nicolas Sarkozy set up a tax on financial transactions. We take from the rich to give to the poor, we want a better distribution of wealth," said Benjamin Lemesle, 23. Protesters from around Europe have been arriving since Monday at the "Old Abattoir" cultural centre where a "People's Summit" is to be held in parallel to the summit of Group of 20 leaders in nearby Cannes on Thursday and Friday.
"We refuse to give the powerful the right to impose their solutions on crises that they created. Alternative paths exist," said pamphlets distributed by the protest's organisers. Police in Nice said they had arrested three Spanish men on the city's renowned Promenade des Anglais seafront in possession of "bolts, mountaineering axes, balaclavas and gas masks" ahead of the march.
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