“We are the indignant of New York, the indignant of America, the indignant of the world,” said Hector Figueroa of the Union of Service Employees, referring to the protests in Spain.
“Occupy Wall Street” claims to be part of the Arab Spring and some activists said they were in solidarity with Greece on Wednesday. But the protesters spoke more about unemployment in the United States, the “inhumane” foreclosures and their difficulties “to end the month”. “Put an end to wars, tax the rich”, chanted the protesters in particular.
19 days in the street
A few hundred demonstrators have symbolically camped for nearly three weeks in Zoccotti Park, which they nicknamed “Freedom Square”, a stone’s throw from the New York Stock Exchange.
So far, the rallies have not attracted more than 2,500 people. But the arrest on Saturday of more than 700 protesters, after they blocked the Brooklyn Bridge, helped spread the movement.
Since then, “Occupy Wall Street” has started to emulate, notably in Boston, Chicago and Washington.
The movement, which relies on social networks to disseminate its message, presents itself as “a resistance movement without a leader” and not violent. “We are the 99% who will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1% [restant] », He specifies on his website.
Support for elected Democrats
The demonstrators also received the support of elected Democrats. On Wednesday, the Chairman of the Democratic Group in the House of Representatives, John Larson, “greeted” these protesters who “are fighting to give a voice to the Americans who fight every day”. New York Democratic Representative Louise Slaughter said she was proud to see them stand up “against corporate greed.”
On Tuesday, the President of the American Central Bank (Fed), Ben Bernanke, and the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, Timothy Geithner, said they understood the frustrations of the demonstrators at a financial sector which behaves with a certain recklessness, despite the crisis financial position for which he was responsible.
“Up to a point, I can’t fault them for anything. It is certain that with unemployment of 9% and very weak economic growth, the situation is not very good. This is what they are protesting against, ”Bernanke said.
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