People's Summit Rejects FTAA in Declarations and on the Street

  
As Quebec City geared up for the weekend meeting of 34 leaders from around the hemisphere, members of civil society convened in a summit of their own. Official meetings for the Second People's Summit began on April 17 at the Old Market Port, just outside the summit perimeter. The program included indoor sessions that culminated in an "official" declaration rejecting the FTAA as neoliberal, racist and environmentally destructive and continued throughout the weekend with a number of organized outdoor demonstrations.

Approximately 2,300 people from 35 countries (including Cuba, which is excluded from the official Summit of the Americas process and FTAA participation) were in attendance at the indoor meetings. According to sources on the scene, the event was both well organized and substantive. Participants included the NGOs and movements that make up the Hemispheric Social Alliance (HSA), a group that aims to disseminate information and create a forum for discussion of social, development and democracy issues in the Americas. The HSA's primary focus is to propose and promote an alternative to the FTAA model of development and to call on groups around the hemisphere to exert pressure on their governments for this purpose. It charges that the FTAA will undermine human rights and democracy issues and only worsen poverty in the region. As proof, the group cites the lack of progress in these areas since the Summit process was initiated in Miami seven years ago.

The First People's Summit was held to coincide with the Second Summit of the Americas in 1998 in Santiago. It built on the groundwork for a broad union-NGO alliance laid during the 1997 Belo Horizonte Trade Ministerial. The HSA, which was formed after Santiago, crafted a document entitled: Alternatives for the Americas: Building a People's Hemispheric Agreement. With some revisions, this remains the HSA's official declaration today. The last time the group met was in November 1999 in Toronto, alongside the fifth Trade Ministerial.

Besides the People's Summit, the events in Quebec featured a "Carnival Against Capitalism" organized by the self-proclaimed Welcoming Committee of the Summit of the Americas of Quebec City and the Anti-Capitalist Convergence of Montreal. The carnival was divided into different "color zones" to distinguish different degrees of hostility to the Summit process. The so-called green zone was characterized by a festive atmosphere with street theater performances, clowns and the like. The yellow zone attempted to institute a blockade as an act of defensive, but nonviolent action. Finally, the red zone promoted disruption and the use of "diverse tactics," including some violent actions. A call went out for "organized direct action from the break of dawn" on Sunday, the last day of the Summit.

Funding for the People's Summit was provided by a number of private organizations and foundations, as well as various levels of the Canadian government. Canada has tried desperately to demonstrate the inclusion of civil society groups, while at the same time maintaining order around official Summit events. As Canadian officials tried desperately to guard against potentially violent demonstrations, they also went much further than any other host country has to accommodate protest groups.