Miami bans street weapons ahead of FTAA ministerial trade summit

Saturday, November 15, 2003

MIAMI, USA (AFP): Miami clamped down on protestors Thursday, barring them from carrying weapons or blunt instruments ahead of next week's ministerial meeting of the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

Activists have criticized a municipal ordinance that bans groups of seven or more people from carrying rifles, guns and any length of metal, plastic or other similar hard or stiff material.

Thousands of protestors, civil activists, union members, anarchists and others opposed to the effects of globalization, are expected to arrive in Miami ahead of the November 20-21 trade meetings.

The meetings of the World Trade Organization in Seattle in 1999 and in Cancun, Mexico, in September were marked by huge demonstrations, some of which resulted in street violence and vandalism.

The FTAA ministerial summit of the 34 nations of the American hemisphere except Cuba will attempt to move forward on talks aimed at setting up what could be the world's largest free trade bloc by a January 2005 deadline.

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