Starbucks picket - 2 July

As 250,000 people marched through Edinburgh under the banner of "Make Poverty History", activists from Edinburgh Chiapas Solidarity Campaign set up a stall outside Starbucks on the Royal Mile. Free cups of coffee (grown in autonomous Zapatista co-operatives) were handed out along with leaflets condemning Starbucks' relationship with Conservation International and its role in trade imperialism in Chiapas.

The picket was a great success as Starbucks remained almost empty for large parts of the day ensuring that it could not take advantage of the large numbers of people supposedly in Edinburgh to campaign for trade justice. There was also a substantial amount of money generously donated towards our appeal to build a health clinic in our twinned autonomous municipality "16th February".