News of the saturday night demo and blockade in Nantes

19:00

Today’s demonstration was incredible, and bigger than we had expected. In ten hectic days, we managed to mobilize 20,000 people in Nantes, a thousand cyclists and more than 400 tractors. The 6 convoys entered the ring road at different points and joined together at the foot of the Cheviré bridge, where there was a banquet, songs, speeches, and dancing. There were simultaneous demonstrations in 40 cities in France. But that didn’t seem to be enough. The farmers and inhabitants are still threatened with immediate eviction, exorbitant daily fees, and the seizure of their property and livestock. At 4pm, faced with an absence of response by Francois Hollande related to the eviction process, 70 farmers from COPAIN decided to stay and block the bridge with their tractors. They declared in a communiqué, “We, the farmers of COPAIN cannot accept the eviction of our colleagues at Notre Dame des Landes. We demand a firm engagement and will stay on the bridge. Mr. Hollande, we are waiting for you.”

We are several hundred opponents of the airport who stayed close to them to support their action, despite the rain. On the still empty ring road, the circus tents are going up and garlands of lights are being hung. Metal barrels are having fires lighted in them. Collective kitchens are preparing hot meals. The 70 tractors are meticulously lined up and attached to each other to discourage a possible attempt at moving them. If needed we will stay the night or even longer, carried by the determination of the farmers and the energy given by the day. An assembly is happening now to discuss what to do next and calls could be made to our supporters and local committees.

It is already possible to think about decentralized solidarity actions if the powers that be stay mute or send the police to remove us and the tractors. We invite you to stay vigilant and look for updates on the websites and mailing lists of the movement tonight and tomorrow morning, and to spread the information in your networks. More news soon.

21:15 Cheviré Bridge – call out for a picnic on sunday at noon- for the abandon of the eviction trials 94 tractors from Copain44, supported by several hundred airport opponents, are currently blocking the Cheviré Bridge, on the ring road of Nantes. We call for people to come join us to strengthen our forces. We are still asking Francois Hollande to stop immediately the eviction process for the (non-squatting) inhabitants and farmers. We want him to keep his promises in a clear manner and guarantee that there will be no eviction of any kind until the legal appeals process is over. With this in mind, we invite you to come to a picnic at the foot of the bridge on sunday. Pedestrian access is from la Bougenais, walk along the soundproofed wall and then up the on-ramp.

22:55 Situation is tense: The cops are putting the pressure on: they informed us that they plan to attack in ten minutes (more than ten minutes ago...) There are sixty something vans (normally 10 pigs to a van but it depends), divided between the north and the south side of the blockade, with big machines like water cannons and flatbed trucks. They are currently approaching on either side. The farmers are meeting to decide what strategy to adopt. If we were forced to evacuate this place we would call for reactions everywhere. We would organize to continue to demand with force the recall of the eviction process and an engagement to have no evictions of any kind on the zad before the legal appeals process is over.

23:30 Following 3 warnings on the south side of the blockade, the farmers have decided to to pack up camp, and we are taking down tents and material. Despite us leaving, the cops have been using the water cannon and copious amounts of gas. The tractors are trying to extricate themselves.

23:45 We are organizing to leave in a convoy of tractors, from the Cheviré bridge to la Vacherit. They are flooding us with gas. (This computer doesn’t have much battery left, so it’s possible that we can’t give any more news immediately, but we will as soon as possible.)