Violent demonstrations at Summit of the Americas
Demonstrators dispersed by tear gas thrown by
security forces during a protest against the visit of US
President George W. Bush to Mar del Plata, to take part
in the IV Summit of the Americas, 4 November 2005.
AFP PHOTO/DANIEL GARCIA
Demonstrators burn traffic signs and furniture.
AFP PHOTO/JUAN MABROMATA
Demonstrators burn US flags.
AFP PHOTO/MARTIN BERNETTI
by Norman 'Gus' Thomas
Caribbean Net News Senior Correspondent on assignment
E-mail: rc@caribbeannetnews.com
Saturday, November 5, 2005
MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina: They sounded like
one of Billy Graham's mass choirs, as thousands of demonstrators took to the
streets of this ocean-side resort Friday, chanting "Get out!" to George W.
Bush, the President of the United States, as he endeavored to promote the
values of free trade to delegates who appear somewhat divided as they attend
the 4th Summit of the Americas.
The protestors, some of them masked, became
violent during the course of the day when some 1,000 people reportedly began
to shatter storefront windows with clubs, threw stones and sharpened sticks at
riot police and burned American flags. Hugo
Chavez, the President of Venezuela, addressed a crowd of about 10,000 in what
police told Caribbean Net News was a peaceful protest, notwithstanding
his anti-FTAA rhetoric, prior to the violence.
Nonetheless, the President of Mexico,
Vincente Fox, unswayed by the protests, pointed out that the proposal would
move forward, regardless and cautioned opponents attending the summit that the
vast majority supports free trade. Addressing
the crowd beneath a giant-sized banner of Che Guevara, Chavez called on the
masses which included personalities like soccer superstar Diego Maradona as
well as Evo Morales, the Bolivian presidential hopeful, to help him overturn
Bush's efforts to create the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
However, one of Latin America's firm advocate for free trade, Vincente Fox,
told the press that roughly 29 of the 34 nations attending the summit are
thinking about pushing forward with the FTAA, without the support of
Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, countries the U.S. has
labeled "rogue states." The few delegates
from the Caribbean stayed out of harm's way, careful not to incite more
problems, as Trinidad and Tobago has its eyes locked on becoming the
Headquarters of the FTAA. Last month the
country's Minister with responsibility for Trade and Industry, Kenneth Valley,
spoke of a plan which called for the integration of his country's economy with
those of Latin America. This plan has sparked a measure of concern among his
counterparts in the smaller islands of the Caribbean Community. (CARICOM).
According to Valley, his government is pursuing the site of the permanent
headquarters of the FTAA and recently adopted Spanish as the first foreign
language citizens of Trinidad and Tobago should "acquire."
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