We at SPLAT-Montreal wish to express our strong solidarity with everyone who came out to protest the WTO over the last few days. We were out there on the streets as well and we did what we could to add our presence and our voices to denounce the WTO and to denounce the vicious capitalist exploitation it promotes.

But by being on the streets we made ourselves vulnerable to police repression just like everyone else who dared to demonstrate. The events of the last few days have made it very obvious that there is limited opportunity to meaningfully challenge the capitalist system if you choose to do so overtly.

1. Hundreds of people were arrested in the 'Green Zone' and charged with criminal offences when it was obvious that they were not necessarily involved in breaking any windows and may not have even been part of the protest at all. The police were not concerned with particular criminal acts. Instead they were targeting political dissenters as a whole.

2. Those arrested were held for an extended length of time and then forced to go to court the next day where they were barred from protesting again. This is not the normal procedure. Instead, this is a clear example of the judicial process being engineered for a political purpose.

3. The police also targeted known activists specifically - arresting one and threatening others face-to-face when they were not even near any demonstration. Together with the mass arrests the police were successful in intimidating the protest movement. This is why protest organisers lost their nerve and avoided confrontation on Tuesday's snake marches.

The state makes the laws. The state then gives itself the freedom the break any and all those laws. As a result there is no such thing as "legitimate" protest in the eyes of the state. We are all criminals already. The only choice now is to avoid exposing yourself to the system by carrying out clandestine actions.

It is therefore on this occasion that we renew our call for activists to engage in UNDERGROUND ACTIONS. Be creative. Be daring. You can strike against the capitalist system and get your message to the people with less risk of getting arrested. We at SPLAT-Montreal have been carrying out underground actions since last year. Fight the system and don't allow yourself to be led by people who are intimidated by the police.

(Note: This is not meant as a criticism of demonstrations. Demos serve a purpose, and we personally choose to participate in many of them. But be aware of the risks and the disadvantages.)

SPLAT-Montreal
http://splat-montreal.org