In Memoriam: Ramón Fernández Durán

Our friend Ramón Fernández Durán died on May 10^th. Ramón, a Spanish activist and writer, and a co-founder of Ecologistas en Acción, has always been very close to Corporate Europe Observatory. He was a board member and a permanent source of inspiration. We first met in Madrid at the 1994 Alternative Forum “50 Years is Enough – The Other Voices of the Planet” (a mobilisation against the World Bank and IMF) and again in December 1995 at the Counter Summit during the EU Summit. Both events were important seeds for the global justice movement and for the creation of a European network challenging corporate Europe. And for us they were a great inspiration to found CEO. 

Ramón’s lucid analysis, reflected in numerous books and articles, has had an important influence on our thinking and the memory of his committed political activism will stay with us as a shining example.

Ramón combined his great intellectual capacity and deep political commitment with an even greater kindness, warmth, humour and radical coherence in the way he lived (and died). We deeply miss him.

• Blog on Ramón: La explosión del desorden… El blog sobre Ramón Fernández Durán (in Spanish)
• Ramón Fernández Durán – A Tribute from TNI, 12 May 2011.
• The Barcelona Breakthrough; Lessons from the largest ever demonstration against corporate globalisation in Europe, an interview with Ramón Fernández Durán, Corporate Europe Observer, Issue 11, May 2002.