Mennea says no to the Beijing Olympics

A declaration of an important athlete like Pietro Mennea regarding the Beijing Olympics finally appeared on January 9, 2008 in the Italian daily “Metro.” In the general silence and the shameful complicity of the Sport entities concerning the Chinese dictatorship, a voice of dissent, especially such an authoritative one, is greatly appreciated. Will the questions posed by this great athlete ever be answered? The Olympic Games have become a gigantic show, almost impossible to economically sustain: “Is it right to sacrifice an entire country at this altar?” The organizers and the sponsors seem to think so, as this will be the most profitable Olympic Games in history, at the economic level as well as at the level of publicity. Why? At the economic level because in China, the exploitation of labor is reaching incredible heights. It is known that the labor utilized, from the construction of the structures to the production of gadgets, involves children, even children under 10 years of age. They are forced to work in slave-like conditions, without rights and without working hours. But the International Olympic Committee is more interested in the final result than in the way in which it is achieved. The show must go on, especially if the proceeds are stratospherical. From the point of view of publicity for China, the Olympics are a marvelous facade which hides problems of pollution, violation of human rights, cultural and religious repression which afflicts China (see Burma and Tibet). We’ll see. We continue to believe that the Olympic Games are a “sporting event” and it is never too late to oppose them!

This article comes from http://www.unmadeinchina.org/