NP world trade

[Doug Millison]

After Quebec: FTAA Roundup 
Television reports of last weekend's Summit of the Americas, where 34 heads
of state opened talks on a new Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), were
full of images of men in suits talking trade while masked protesters clashed
with police outside in the streets, separated from the meeting by a 12 foot
high concrete and chain-link wall. Yet mainstream media reports were
decidedly, though not surprisingly, light on substance. So what really
happened in Quebec? And why should you care about a treaty that would extend
the "benefits" of NAFTA to the entire hemisphere?

The best source of FTAA-related news and commentary is AlterNet, which has
compiled an array of reports and analyses from a variety of sources,
including Salon.com, TomPaine.com, CorpWatch and the Toronto Globe and Mail.
The page is still evolving as reports continue to roll in. Another excellent
source is the Center for Media Alternatives of Quebec, which is affiliated
with the Independent Media Centers that have sprung up since the 1999 WTO
protests in Seattle.

In a report for Salon.com, David Moberg offers this summary: "The protesters
did not manage to halt the summit, but their actions and the police tear gas
-- which was often quite noticeable inside the fence and in the official
summit hotels -- did disrupt the event. And though Seattle was more of a
shock and surprise to the global elite and the mass media, the turnout in
Quebec was larger, pushing the battle over globalization to a new level. The
protests focused on an issue that has otherwise barely entered into the
consciousness of most Americans, North and South, and more people are now
aware of the proposed treaty. But they may wonder what it portends for them
when government leaders and their corporate supporters secret themselves
behind a chain-link fence to plot the future of the Americas."
--Leif Utne


http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10754