The Summit of the Americas is "an institutionalized set of meetings at the highest level of government decision-making in the Western Hemisphere". The next summit is being held in Quebec City from April 20-22, 2001. Overshadowing all other issues is the Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement, or FTAA. This agreement builds immensely on NAFTA and includes 34 countries (every country in the west except Cuba).

There will be at least 6000 police to stop the peaceful protests which will be taking place from numerous activist groups. A 4 kilometre 4 metre high concrete fence is being built to complement the huge wall that already exists along the upper part of the city. Previous summits were held in Miami (1994), Santa Cruz (1996), and Santiago (1998). The FTAA is supposed to be fully implemented by 2005, but many corporate-backed politicians, such as George W. Bush are pushing for 'fast-track' power so that the policies are implemented sooner.

Many activists have demanded for the text of the FTAA agreement to be released to the public domain, and were arrested. You can read what they want you to know at www.summit-americas.org.

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Two weeks after the summit in Quebec City, Jaggi Singh is still being held in jail, because of his wooden catapult which was used to toss teddy bears at the riot police. The RCMP said that it used 3,009 canisters of tear gas, and 502 plastic bullets, while the Quebec provincial police used 1,700 canisters and 320 rubber bullets. I have heard of one case of a person being shot in the neck with a plastic bullet, who was in critical condition and is still recovering. This is unconfirmed, but should not be surprising, considering any 'sub-lethal' weapons simply have a certain probability of not killing anyone.

Tear Gas Festival!

I arrived in Quebec city friday at 11:00 PM. Students of three colleges in Montreal were sleeping at a local college (FX-Garneau). Imagine the party... When our buses arrived, hundreds of people were celebrating, drinking beer and smoking weed. This night, me and a couple of friends found a bar in Sainte-Foy, a small town near Quebec city. So this night was calm for me.

Saturday morning. I didn't sleep for the whole night, but all the other students slept in two big gymnasiums. I spent the night walking around the college and talking with drunken people coming from the city where the "real" fun was. So, saturday morning. I watched the whole bunch of students trying to get up at 7:30AM. The college was closing it's doors at 9:00AM so we needed to leave early. By the way, there was around 2,000 students, only in this college.
So, everyone gets up, eats some toasts and drinks a lot of coffee (everything was free, paid by the student association). Saturday was THE day. Most people were coming here only for this day, because a huge march for everyone was organized. The "people's march". At 10:00AM (things organized by students are always a bit late), we all leave the college and start walking toward Quebec city, where the march was supposed to begin.

Later this day. The march just started and it's going really slow. I'm with some friends and we're all whining about the speed. Then the fun started.

A man is standing on the top of a street light, shouting "GREEN ZONE AHEAD, RED ZONE AT YOUR LEFT!".
That means the peaceful march was continuing north and the riot was at our left. The huge 3 meters tall fence (the Wall of Shame as they call it), blocking us from the area where the 34 men were chatting about the FTAA, was right in our face. My friends and me weren't here to walk peacefully with old people, we were here to watch some action. We got it, and more.

Around 3,000 people are in front of the fence. 3,000 people, only at this street corner. The Wall of Shame was 5 kilometers long, so make the maths. When I arrived, the cops were shooting in the crowd with water canons. I was ready : I had a cheap gas mask and 2 bottles of water (for gased eyes and pepper spray). Maybe two minutes later, the cops (in fact the riot squad) started shooting tear gas in the crowd. It was the first time for me. Tear gas hurts like hell, but only for five minutes so after that, you are ready to return in the clouds.

So, I spent around 3 hours near the fence, crying and coughing in the gas.
Then, they started using rubber bullets. Ouch!
I saw many people receiving those on the legs, butt, hands (many people have broken wrists), etc.
Are we in Palestine?!

Anyway, all in all, Saturday was a good day. After the riot, me and a friend went into the city (the calm parts) to find some food. Most of my friends were returning to Montreal Saturday night but I was staying in Quebec city until Sunday afternoon. So, after losing them, I started exploring the city.
Chaos
No police in the city : They were all inside the fence, "protecting" the 34 big men from the "rioters".
So just imagine around 20,000 people, let free in a city without cops. Chaos, I tell you. But peacuful chaos, more like my vision of anarchy. The cops removed all the trash cans in the city (to prevent the rioters to throw them or set them on fire) so the streets were filled with garbage and walls with graffitis. But beside that, everything was great. Thousands of people dancing in the streets, drinking beer without fear... That's one of the few beautiful things I ever saw in my whole life.
Since I didn't sleep the last night, I went to the college early. But during the whole night students were coming from the city, spreading stories and rumors.

I left Sunday afternoon with the survivors of the weekend. My clothes are still smelling tear gas, my feet hurt like hell and I'll need at least 12 straight hours of sleep. But... I'm happy!
The Summit of the Americas was maybe the best weekend of my whole life. I will always remember these 3 days.
Mutual aid...
Cooperation...
Love...
...and action!

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The rumor about the guy being hit in the neck by a rucbber bullet is true. The man almost died, but now he's safe.

Rubber :
It can saves lives when it's called a condom.
It can kills when it's called a rubbet bullet.

The Germinal "terrorist" group is out of jail now.
Jaggi Singh was released too, but now he can't participate to any kind of event for the next two years. At the last demo, he had a megaphone with a comic book-like balloon sticked to it saying something against globalization, since he cannot use a megaphone in public (the cops think he's a leader and that he kinda controlled the crowd).

I speak French so I have some difficulties writing a long text in English. So if you see any errors, please /msg me.

The Summit of the Americas was held in Quebec City from April 20-22, 2001. The heads of state present declared the summit a success and laid the framework for an eventual FTAA agreement that, if passed, will have all of the negative consequences outlined above.

The summit was greeted by a huge, multi-day protest. On Friday, April 20, protestors engaging in direct action were able to pull down two sections of the 5 km perimeter fence that had been erected around the center of town. This was met by intense volleys of tear gas from riot police which was to set the tone for the entire weekend.

On Saturday, some 60,000 or more activists, labor union members, and concerned citizens from Canada, the United States, and every other country in the hemisphere marched in Quebec City in opposition to the FTAA. Again those engaging in direct action clashed with police. Enough tear gas was used to coat a good portion of the city. In the culmination of the largest police action in Canadian history, the Riot Act was read.

Perhaps popular opposition to undemocratic 'free' trade agreements such as the FTAA that benefit transnational corporations at the expense of environmental, labor, and health standards, as well as national sovereignty, is reaching a critical mass. It is telling that the Summit of the Americas had to be held behind a 5 km concrete and chain link fence perimeter patrolled by 6000 riot police. As a bit of poignant graffiti declared, "How can this fence be associated with the word free?"