The Dutch farmers figured out a great way to escalate their protest without burning a single tire on the freeway. Since nobody in the media wants to cover their demonstrations, they decided to gather where the media is guaranteed to be filming and photo-bomb the coverage with their message. Several hundred agricultural freedom fighters lined their tractors up along the La Vuelta bicycle race course.
No farmers, no food
Several hundred angry farmers “are gathered in Woudenberg for a demonstration of Agractie during the second stage of La Vuelta.” Dutch outlets are reporting that “tractors, agricultural vehicles and trucks line the route in a long line and there are many inverted flags, where cyclists will pass through around 4 p.m. on Saturday.”
Their action group spokesman said Friday, August 19, that they expect “thousands of people and hundreds of tractors on the action area next to the route in Woudenberg.”
Agractie leader Bart Kemp is “satisfied” with Saturday’s turn out. The action, he notes, “is intended to protest against the nitrogen measures that the Cabinet wants to take.”
#dutchfarmers pic.twitter.com/O1oihLDQsE
— Enelra 💚 🇵🇠🌺 🇲🇾 🇸🇬 (@EOtirolf) August 20, 2022
He also assured the public that “there will be no blockades.” They want the race to go smoothly. “A little before 2 a.m., cyclists passed the first farmers protests in Den Bosch without issue.”
The key to the whole idea is that the “Tour of Spain is also broadcast abroad.” The farmers made sure they have a collection of slogans in English. Particularly, “Save the farmer” and “SOS Dutch Farmers.”
They spelled the SOS one out in hay bales for a great 3-D effect when seen from the air. “The activists want to send a signal internationally and express their concern.” They picked the right event for that.
Broadcast in 130 countries
The La Vuelta race is “broadcast in 130 countries and attracts 100 million viewers, the organization emphasizes.”
The farmers simply have to do this. It is “a pity that actions are needed,” but “if necessary, we will simply step it up again,” organizer Wim Veldhuizen promises. Cracks are finally starting to appear in the government opposition.
As Bart Kemp noted in a speech, not every government minister injected the Great Reset Kool-Aid. He “praised CDA leader and minister Wopke Hoekstra, who said in the AD on Friday that his party no longer necessarily finds it necessary that the targets for nitrogen reduction are already achieved in 2030, as agreed in the coalition agreement.”
Lost in the translation there is the idea that killing the farmers isn’t as much of a “done deal” as Mark Rutte thinks.
“Yesterday, Wopke Hoekstra was the first to come out. It took a considerable period of strong insistence to get him to this point. But the egg has been laid and he has said plainly: the critical deposition value must be out of the law and we have to start over.”
Basically, he admits the farmers have a point. It’s a good start. “I expect that the ChristenUnie and VVD will follow. Wopke has done this deliberately and well prepared, and he realizes that this is in place and he can no longer withdraw it. Whether the Cabinet collapses, D66 will give in.“
