Agrofools, Rhythms of Resistance groups padlock, chain World Biofuel Markets conference in protest

In Belgium, the “Agrofools” group padlocked and chained four sets of doors at the World Biofuel Markets conference, and battled with security to chain a fifth door before being arrested. The outside gates were chained shut by the Rhythms of Resistance group before being dispersed by police. The protesters were opposing the use of biofuels as a solution for reducing dependence on oil.

The high-profile protests added to a growing chorus of anti-agribusiness activity. 300 Brazilian women occupied a Monsanto research unit last week, to protest the approval of genetically-modified corn for the Brazilian market, while a women’s group invaded the Stora Enzo timber plantation in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul province earlier this month to protest the planting of trees by a foreign company in a border area, saying it would affect the ecosystem.

The Belgian incident marked the second invasion of a European conference in the past six months. Last October in England, 15 climate change activists from protest group Food Not Fuel threw a cream pie in the face of Oliver Mace, CEO of BP Fuels, at the BioFuel Expo & Conference in Newark.

At the time, protester Thomas Bradshaw told IndyTimes “Biofuels will be taking food from the mouths of the hungry when there are already 800 million people suffering from malnutrition. These corporations are effectively encouraging the erosion of valuable arable farmland and rainforests vital for combating climate change.” The hall was cleared and the scheduled speeches were postponed because of the disruption.

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