A Kommersant correspondent got there along the “road of life”

anti-globalism
Tens of thousands of anti-globalists blocked railways and highways on the Zurich-Davos route. The main slogans: “Immediately close the World Economic Forum!”, “Bush out!”, “Stop the war in Iraq!”, “Down with the gang of thieves and corrupt officials gathered in Davos!” Switzerland brought not only the police, but also the army onto the streets. According to the military, this is the first time such a situation has occurred around Davos. For the first time, Kommersant society columnist ALENA ANTONOVA, hurrying to Davos for an evening reception, saw life.
From Zurich to Davos it takes about three hours by train. But at the very first stop in the center of Zurich, the police entered the first class carriage and asked everyone to leave the carriage, apologized and made excuses. On the platform, young people with portraits of Che Guevara and communist red flags danced and sang “Bella chao”. There were about 5 thousand of them: with dyed hair, with tattoos, with crossed out swastikas on their shoulders.
“Fuckin' Bush,” a young man with an earring in his nose told me almost in English. He waited for an answer, shaking his fist in the air and nodding towards the McDonald's restaurant.
— I don’t like hamburgers either.
The police stopped each passenger for a personal search, always apologized and informed that they would have to go not to Davos, but to the Landquart mountain station, an hour’s drive from Davos. However, we only got to Sargans station. There, soldiers with machine guns were running along the platform, and demonstrators were throwing snowballs and stones at the train.
The police slowly entered the first class carriage and politely explained that the train would not go further. There were notices at the station saying that all trains in the direction of Davos had been stopped until Sunday evening. At the ticket office, when asked how to get to Davos, they answered:
- Why do you need problems? There are demonstrators there and on the roads.
- Necessary. Job. I am a journalist from Russia. I have two dinners and a private party tonight.
Two guys stood nearby with plastic pistols loaded with pink and orange paint. On their jackets they had pacifist emblems, a hammer and sickle, a cannabis leaf and the inscription “No AIDS” sewn on them, in the sense that AIDS was deliberately invented by pharmaceutical companies for the purpose of making money.
— The train will go to Landquart now. Without police escort. “They abdicate all responsibility for those who board there,” the opponents of the existence of AIDS told me and, looking at my ticket, added, “there are no first-class carriages there.”
The carriage smelled of marijuana. The news that a Russian society columnist was traveling in the carriage caused general excitement:
- Most importantly, don’t be afraid. If they arrest us together, it’s not scary. They won't beat you. And if you yourself didn’t throw eggs at people, then they’ll let you go in a day. By the way, the conditions in the Zurich prison are very good,” a guy with red hair and a baby in his arms reassured me. I had to explain that I did not have a planned visit to the Zurich prison.
The train braked sharply. The carriage began to rock.
“Put on your sunglasses, bow your head, bend down and run,” the inhabitants of the carriage explained to me. “They won’t throw stones here, only eggs and paint.” But you better take the red flag as if you are with us.
So I became a girl in a blue sheepskin coat, Dolche&Gabbana glasses, Prada boots and with a red flag in my hands. The policemen smiled at me. The music was blaring. The demonstrators sang "Bella chao", threatened to kill Bush and demanded that the thieves be removed from Davos, as well as an end to the war in Iraq.
A long line of military men stood a hundred meters from the demonstrators. The Swiss said that they were seeing their army for the first time.
— Buses will not go towards Davos today. Maybe you’ll find a taxi, but it’s difficult now,” explained one of the policemen. “The demonstrators blocked the mountain tunnels and all the main highways. Drivers are afraid to go to Davos. You’d better take a walk here and admire our Alps.
Three kilometers away on foot we finally found a working restaurant and two Swiss journalists.
“We’re going on foot,” said our colleagues. “It’s about four kilometers to the village.” A small road leads from it to Davos. How do you feel about these demonstrations?
I shrugged.
“And we think that all this is not serious.” A lot of noise, but no sense. Well, did they stop the war in Iraq? No.
In a small village, where we arrived an hour later, sheep were peacefully grazing on the slopes with green clearings among the snow, and the taxi driver agreed to go to Davos. The car was stopped five times. But a journalist’s ID and Dolche&Gabbana glasses helped out.
The local police in pink overalls did not let us into the center of Davos - Davos Platz. The police stood here every hundred meters. Satisfied people walked past with skis in their hands. Cars with the words "World Economic Forum" passed by. It was calm here.
Groups of demonstrators passed every 15 minutes, but in absolute silence. They silently carried placards. Seeing the television cameras, they turned to the journalists and pointed at the posters. As they walked past the Congress building, which was surrounded by three levels of iron bars, some of the demonstrators made scary faces, frowned, shook their fists and growled, “Rrrrr.” And they quietly walked on.
“It’s forbidden to make noise here,” the police explained.

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 13 dated January 28, 2003, p. 11

Authors:

Alena Antonova

Themes:

All economic forums in Davos

Our proud Davos does not surrender to the enemy