MILAN, (Reuters) – Protesters worldwide geared up for a cry of rage today against bankers, financiers and politicians they accuse of ruining global economies and condemning millions to poverty and hardship through greed.
Galvanised by the past month’s Occupy Wall Street movement, they plan to take to the streets from New Zealand to Alaska in cities from London, Frankfurt to New York itself.
Riot police prepared for any trouble — cities such as London and Athens have seen violent confrontations this year — but it was impossible to say how many people would actually turn out despite a rallying call across social media websites.
“I’ve been waiting for this protest for a long time, since 2008,” said Daniel Schreiber, 28, an editor in Berlin. “I was always wondering why people aren’t outraged and why nothing has happened and finally, three years later, it’s happening.”
The protests are billed as peaceful. But in a sign of what may happen, a group of students stormed Goldman Sachs’s offices in the Italian city of Milan yesterday.
The students managed to break into the hall of the Goldman Sachs building in the heart of Milan’s financial district. The protests were quickly dispersed but red graffiti was daubed on its walls expressing anger at Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and saying “Give us money”.
Demonstrators also hurled eggs at the headquarters of UniCredit , Italy’s biggest bank.
Italian police were on alert for thousands to march in Rome against austerity measures planned by Berlusconi’s government.
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In London, demonstrators aim to converge on the City of London — a leading international financial centre — under the banner “Occupy the Stock Exchange”.
“We have people from all walks of life joining us every day,” said Spyro, one of those behind a Facebook page in London which has grown to some 12,000 followers in a few weeks.
Spyro, a 28-year-old who has a well-paid job and did not want to give his full name, summed up the main target of the global protests as “the financial system”.
Angry at taxpayer bailouts of banks since 2008 and at big bonuses still paid to some who work in them while unemployment blights the lives of many young Britons, he said: “People all over the world, we are saying, ‘Enough is enough’.”
Greek protesters aligned with Spain’s “Indignant” movement called an anti-austerity rally for Saturday in Athens’ Syntagma square, scene of many demonstrations during Greece’s financial meltdown.
“What is happening in Greece now is the nightmare waiting other countries in the future. Solidarity is people’s weapon,” the Real Democracy group said in a statement calling on people to join the protest.
