This weekend the Summit of the Americas convenes in Quebec City with hopes of devising a NAFTA-like free trade agreement that would extend across the 34 national borders that comprise Latin and South America.

Please express your demand that the Canadian security forces at the borders and in Quebec City vigorously defend not only the safety of visiting heads of state, but also the rights of political activists. You can find the letter currently at: http://www.canadians.org/citizen_caged.html

-- Kevin McDonnell (kmcdonnell@earthnet.net), April 18, 2001

Answers

The Nation's Resource Page On The FTAA Protests

Why are so many people protesting?

When leaders of the Western hemisphere came to Quebec to hammer out a free trade agreement that would extend across Latin and South America, tens of Canadians and other citizens from across the continent met these leaders in Quebec to protest these attempts to emulate and expand the NAFTA model. As of April 22, more than 400 people have been arrested by an increasingly violent Canadian police force numbering over 6,000.

The following reports, many of them written from Quebec City, offer further information and background on both the FTAA itself and why so many people oppose it. Visit: http://www.thenation.com/special/2001quebec.mhtml

-- Frederick DeGaulle (fdegaulle@quebnet.net), April 23, 2001.