QUEBEC CITY – Protest groups stormed part of the chain link fence ringing Quebec City’s Summit of the Americas on Friday in the first sign of serious trouble on the perimeter of the top-level talks, witnesses said.
About 100 protesters, from anarchist and Marxist groups, stormed into the security zone around the conference center where leaders from 34 American countries are to hold three days of talks on trade and democracy.
Police in full riot gear baton-charged the demonstrators, who were wearing black clothes and masks.
In Quebec City there was very little civility as police and demonstrators clashed a half mile from the convention center where the summit was convening. There were few reports of arrests (25) or injuries (five police officers), but the demonstrators partially achieved their goal of disrupting events.
The President Bush watched the protests on television, canceled a meeting with 15 Caribbean heads of state because many of the leaders couldn’t make it to the Loews Concord Hotel where Bush was to host them. A meeting of Andean national leaders started 20 minutes late and without Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Bolivian President Hugo Banzer Suarez. Only three of seven Central American leaders arrived close to schedule for a meeting with Bush, which had to be delayed.
Bush remained holed up in his hotel as the summit’s opening ceremonies were postponed more than an hour. He was forced to cancel one meeting and postpone or abbreviate others because the movements of heads of state around Quebec were hampered by the anti-globalization protests.
Several thousand protesters, complaining that the summit’s goal of free trade across the Americas hurts the poor and damages the environment, have converged on the perimeter fence from several directions, forcing police to close some of the gates into the security zone.
Mayor Jean-Pail L’Allier said he regrets now that Quebec City agreed to host the gathering, saying he is fearful of more violence and thinks the extraordinary security measures will tarnish the city’s reputation for grace and hospitality.
”As for the next time world leaders decide to hold a closed meeting,” he said, ”they should hold it in the desert.”
