Feature story - March 14, 2003
It could be just days before the US goes to war in Iraq and still supplies for the war machine are on route. The Rainbow Warrior blocked the US and Spanish military port of Rota in the south of Spain, trying to stop the US military cargo ship Cape Horn from leaving port for the Gulf. The ship was boarded and several crew members were arrested.
The Rainbow Warrior captain Daniel Rizzoti was arrested among others by the Spanish Guardia Civil. The Rainbow Warrior was boarded last night while protesting in front of Rota Naval Base.
Before we even finished our coffee this morning we were
surrounded by police boats and a helicopter was on the scene. At
around 8:30 we heard radio transmission that the Cape Horn, a
massive military cargo ship headed for the Gulf was preparing to
leave. It wasn't long after that we saw military tug boats heading
into the port to help maneuver the large vessel out of the
port.
But within half an hour we had four inflatable boats in the
water with activists, the Rainbow Warrior had started engines and
we were raising the anchor. By this time there were another three
military ships around us. To our surprise and delight they started
to head out to sea, where did they think we were going?
Along with the inflatables we headed towards the entrance of the
port, a narrow passage we can block and prevent the war machine
from leaving.
The small police boats and helicopter quickly caught up with our
activists while the military ships were already too far out to stop
us. We are going to stop this military cargo from supplying this
illegal and immoral war against Iraq.
By 9:30 the Rainbow Warrior was in position in front of the port
entrance and we dropped our anchor.
Already two activists, an American man and Spanish woman, have
been arrested as they attempted to chain themselves to buoys on the
gate to the port. The police have also seized one of our
inflatables but the boat crew were able to avoid arrest.
We are going to stay and stop this military cargo ship. The
Spanish government is supporting a war on Iraq both politically at
the UN and on the ground here in Rota, but the Spanish people are
against this war. We are here stopping this shipment on behalf of
the 90 percent of Spanish people who oppose the war with or without
a UN resolution.
You can take action and show your opposition to the war by writing to the members of the UN Security Council and ask them to say no to war.