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French w
A shadowy group of wine activists has issued a one-month ultimatum to Nicolas Sarkozy threatening action if the new French President fails to help the industry. The Regional Committee for Viticultural Action (CRAV) has been known to hijack tankers of foreign wine and dynamite government buildings or supermarkets. In a pre-recorded message delivered to France 3, a regional television channel, from somewhere in the Languedoc hinterland, five balaclava-clad men read out a statement addressed to Sarkozy.Looking more like Corsican nationalists or masked Islamic fundamentalists than winemakers, the wine terrorists vowed that if nothing changed and the price they received for their wine had not gone up, they would go into action. In a reference to the French resistance in World War II, the CRAV said it would come out of the maquis (scrub) and go into action. Calling on fellow winemakers to unite, the activists referred to the 1907 winemakers uprising in Montpellier, when thousands took to the streets and the army opened fire, killing six. The intimation was that once again lives could be lost. While nobody will own up to being a member, it is an open secret that the CRAV is the Just like Hamas, with political and "militant" wings. Emilien Jubineau, the France 3 journalist who filmed the message, said the CRAV members wanted the European Commission to drop its plan to grub up 200,000 hectares of vines. They also want Europe to maintain a subsidy for distilling surplus wine into alcohol spirit. However, Michel-Laurent Pinat, the general manager of the French wine bottlers and distributors association, said the militants refused to face the realities of the open market. Mon Dieu, non! Anything but compete fairly on quality and price. Posted by: Jackal 2007-05-29 |
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