FTAA: Miami Braces For Thousands Of Protesters For Free Trade Talks

MIAMI -- Thousands of protesters are expected on the streets of Miami to protest free trade talks, and while most vow a peaceful outpouring of dissent, police are preparing for the small, determined groups they say just want to wreak havoc.

As the Internet buzzes with everything from protesters' travel plans to a practice session for stilt walkers, police are training for those who may take a less Ghandian approach to the streets.

More than 40 law enforcement agencies have spent months preparing for potential trouble at the Free Trade Area of Americas meeting that starts Sunday and runs through next Friday. Police have assigned thousands of officers to response teams, staged mock protest encounters, readied fire trucks that could double as water cannons, and plan to construct a security fence around the hotel where trade talks will be conducted.

Trade ministers from 34 countries will discuss creating a free trade area that will cover the Western Hemisphere, except Cuba. Many opponents believe free trade agreements mean a loss of American jobs to developing nations where labor is cheaper, a widening gap between the rich and poor and the undermining of environmental regulations.

Authorities don't want Miami to become another Seattle, where a World Trade Organization meeting in 1999 ended with little accomplished in trade talks and five days of riots that tarnished that city's image and left $3 million in damages.

Protesters say they want to focus on the issues, not the spurts of violence that may come from individuals, and hope to repeat what they consider a successful outcome in Seattle and subsequent trade meetings where negotiations have faltered amid vocal opposition.

"Seattle was a moment of a great victory," said L.A. Kauffman, national mobilizing coordinator for New York-based United for Peace and Justice. "Thousands of people came together to challenge the WTO and talks have never really gotten back on track."

Richard Mills, spokesman for U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, said a public forum on Wednesday would allow protesters to bring their concerns directly to the trade ministers.

"We look forward to continuing a meaningful dialogue with civil society, with agriculture interests, with business interests," Mills said. "It's in our interest to listen and try to address concerns because we ultimately have to build a coalition to approve whatever trade agreement we have in Congress."

In the days leading up to the Miami meetings, police have made a handful of arrests that may be connected to protesters.

In North Miami Beach, two "suspected anarchists" who broke into a Starbucks coffee shop were arrested. Police say the men, who were not identified, had a garden hose and gasoline cans in their truck. Near downtown Miami, three people involved in organizing protests from a warehouse were arrested for allegedly loitering, resisting arrest or carrying a concealed knife.

Miami police spokeswoman Herminia Salas-Jacobson said many of the groups headed to South Florida are "coming to exercise their civil rights. We understand that."

Authorities are most concerned about small groups such as the Black Bloc, described as anarchists who dress in black and wear masks and target storefronts of multinational corporations and their franchises.

"When you have a small group that has no other goal than to destroy property or to hurt people or to disrupt an event ... that small group could be a serious issue," she said.

Violent clashes between protesters and police have become common at free trade and other meetings promoting globalization. In September, demonstrators in Cancun battled with police, tossing rocks and sewage in an effort to break through barricades at WTO talks there.

Hardline activists use increasingly sophisticated tactics, such as wearing gas masks and bullet vests, and create padded blocs surrounding protesters to fend off the police. Some use so-called sleeping dragons, devices constructed of PVC pipes or other materials through which people link arms, complicating police's efforts to disband them.

The AFL-CIO expects about 25,000 people in Miami, representing some 65 groups. More than 150 buses will arrive in Miami, including several buses of retirees, before the biggest marches Thursday and Friday. Members from other nonaffiliated groups will travel from as far away as Seattle and Washington, D.C.

With so many groups involved, it's impossible to get a handle on how many people will actually show up, and whether all of the concern about potential violence will materialize.

But the city isn't taking any chances.

The Miami City Commission approved Thursday an ordinance that bans protesters from carrying rifles, guns, and lumber among other things.

In Palm Beach County, the Boca Raton City Council passed a similar ordinance last month, concerned that protesters from the FTAA would head north to try to disrupt the five-day Republican Governors Association annual meeting, which begins Wednesday.

Protest organizers consider those actions overkill to stifle dissent.

"Look at it in terms of what's going on in the United States with the anti-war protest, the types of confrontations that go on in Britain at a football event, rioting after NBA or Super Bowl games," said Ian Murray, spokesman for Seattle-based People for Fair Trade. "Now, we don't see an absolute condemnation of the National Football League or the Washington Redskins." (AP)