QUEBEC — Canada’s international reputation will suffer after it detained demonstrators at customs and treated them like potential criminals, organizers of a protest summit said Monday.
Two Mexican university students were detained in Toronto while many protesters had their luggage searched and were subjected to hour-long questioning, said organizers of the five-day People’s Summit of the Americas.
”Canada has a prestigious reputation on the international stage for democracy and human rights,” said Hector de la Cueva, an official for a Mexican group opposed to free trade.
”Now they are showing the contrary. They’re showing the kinds of things we might see sometimes in the south (of the Americas).”
About 2,000 delegates from across the Americas will be attending the summit. It will include a giant protest Saturday and an assortment of symposiums on the potential dangers of international trade.
The event is being held as a counterpoint to the official Summit of the Americas, a meeting this coming weekend where 34 countries will seek to form a giant free-trade pact.
