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Hundreds of people gathered in several French cities on Saturday in protests called by anti-capitalist and environmental groups against Amazon, including at a site where the American e-commerce giant is planning a huge warehouse.
Amazon plans to install a 38,000 square meter (400,000 square foot) facility in the small southern town of Fournes, near Pont-du-Gard, a World Heritage Site.
Between 800 and 1,000 people gathered at the site, planting shrubs in front of huge banners reading “Stop Amazon” and “Not here or nowhere.”
They formed a human chain to show the size of the project, while multi-colored balloons floated 18 meters (60 feet) to indicate the height of the planned five-story facility.
“It has been two years since the citizens of Fournes and its surroundings fought against the installation of a giant Amazon warehouse,” said Raphael Pradeau, spokesperson for the group of French citizen activists Attac.
“At the start, they were a bit alone in front of everyone, but they managed to stop the project thanks to legal recourse”.
“We want to show that these are not small isolated fights and that we can mobilize hundreds of people ready to come back to stop the work,” Pradeau said.
Sarah Latour, 38, came with her two sons, 8 and 6, who planted a shrub in a vacant lot, where the vines had once grown.
“These plants, these shrubs that we are planting today are a symbol of life that contrasts with the concretization that Amazonia practices,” she says.
“I came with my children because I don’t want this destructive pattern for them.”
About 200 people also gathered outside an Amazon installation in Carquefou, a suburb of the western city of Nantes, organizers said.
“We condemn Amazon for destroying more jobs than they create,” said Sophie Jallier, spokesperson for the organizers in Carquefou.
Other protests were reported in the eastern towns of Ensisheim and Augny.
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