City Council member and one of the leaders of the No Dal Molin movement, Cinzia Bottene, had circulated a petition calling on her colleagues to support the citizens' right to protest and reject the ridiculous accusations of the police chief. "Participation and dissent are not forms of delinquency, but the salt of democracy." It was signed by 18 city council members, three regional council members and nine from neighboring cities, as well as the mayor of Venice.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was also in Italy where she met with Prime Minister Berlusconi and thanked him for the hospitality given to U.S. troops in Italy. Speaking to Italian parliament she said, "I wonder how many Americans know that there are 14,000 U.S. troops in Italy, how many know of the Italian leadership role in combating nuclear proliferation." She promised a new era of cooperation between the U.S. and allies. "There is no way that we will establish a policy that then imposes upon others obligations for which they have no consultation."
Pelosi's remarks raise a number of questions. Does the Speaker know that Italian taxpayers cover close to 40% of the operating costs of U.S. bases in Italy? Does she know that last October in a local referendum, which had officially been suspended just four days before it was to take place but was held with help of hundreds of volunteers, 95% of the 24,094 voters who did participate, voted against the new U.S base at Dal Molin? And was she aware that, while visiting the US Air Force Base in Aviano, she was practically sitting on top of 50 U.S. nuclear warheads stored at the base (another 40 are stored at the Ghedi Torre base) in violation of the spirit of the non-proliferation treaty?
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For more information on the No Dal Molin movement, see the official site of the Presidio permanente (in Italian) http://www.nodalmolin.it, as well as a collection of articles and videos in English at http://www.peaceandjustice.it/vicenza/
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