Walled Quebec Summit Breached
Spring Hope | 20.04.2001 23:21
The concrete and wire barrier curtain around the FTAA Summit of the Americas in Quebec city, Canada, was breached by protesters.
Friday afternoon, with thousands of protesters already in the streets, one day before a planned, massive march, the 3 metre high, 5 km long concrete and wire wall around the FTAA meeting site, succumbed. Initially, it took the force of only one demonstrator climbing onto it plus several police officers attempting to restrain him for the wire portion to tumble. In the ensuing hour or so, police fired the first teargas followed later by rubber bullets. A scheduled meeting between U.S. President Bush and several leaders as well as the full summit session had to be postponed. In addition, the ventilation system of the summit site had to be shut down because of the entry of police tear gas a few blocks away. During the scuffles, two water cannon trucks brought out to control the crowd were overwhelmed by protesters and had to beat a retreat, some of their windows smashed. The demonstration which resulted in the incidents began as a green march, with non-violent intention, which turned yellow, then red, according to participants at the scene. Best website reports on-the-scene from Vermont.Indymedia.
Spring Hope
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21.04.2001 11:16
Jesse Fox Mayshark 2001-04-20
BOULEVARD RENE-LEVESQUE -- One of the first confrontations between police and protestors took place on the Boulevard Rene-Levesque around 3 p.m. near the Grand Theatre.
As a crowd of spectators, some of them with small children, lined the perimeter of the fence along the sidewalk, a group of black-masked black bloc activists pulled large sections of the concrete and wire mesh construct down and advanced toward about a dozen officers in olive riot gear.
The action was the culmination of a parade that began at Universite de Laval around 1 p.m. and proceeded peacefully, if noisily, all the way into downtown. More passive groups peeled off along other streets prior to hitting the fence, leaving only "red" and "yellow" groups to stand off at the perimeter.
("Red" groups advocate direct confrontation; "yellow" groups resist passively, but a contingent of them had pledged to support any red groups who broke through the fence.)
For about 10 minutes, the activists contented themselves with shouting slogans ("Whose streets? Our streets!") and throwing plastic bottles and golf balls. The police deflected those with plastic shields and stood their ground. Soon, other squads of police arrived to provide back-up.
Then came a molotov cocktail, which smashed and burned harmlessly on the concrete. And then a crowd started pulling on one section of the fence. (It wasn't clear how many of those behind the fence were involved and how many were providing moral support by yelling and cheering.) It took only about three minutes of rocking to pull it over, and a small group of anarchists scrambled through the opening, pushing a metal street barrier before them.
Things escalated quickly: a group of police rushed at the protestors pushing them back; other groups began pulling down other sections of fence; a few more molotov cocktails landed, and one officer's pant leg caught fire (it was quickly extinguished by other officers); with the entire fence across the boulevard down, groups of protestors began moving in several directions, spreading out along side streets. Finally, a third squad of officers appeared, with several carrying tear-gas guns.
As the first riot squad fell back from the protestors, the new arrivals fired gas canisters into the throng. The crowd of spectators, which had been moving back and forth nervously, dispersed with a few parents reaching down to cover their children's mouths with kerchiefs and shirt sleeves.
As of 4:30, there are still reports of gas along Rene-Levesque.
Pictures at:
Protest letter to email, embassy contacts etc
by Andrew 5:37am Sat Apr 21 '01
A quick account of the repression, a form protest letter and contact emails and embassy addresses
FTAA protests –summit delayed but repression begins
Mass protests in Quebec yesterday including the
demolition of a large section of the 3km fence
sealing off the city centre forced the opening
ceremonies of the FTAA to be delayed by 90 minutes.
Police attacked demonstrators with rubber bullets,
tear gas, water cannon, dogs and baton charges.
They have arrested many activists; most sinisterly
a secret police snatch squad in an unmarked vehicle
kidnapped key organiser Jaggi Singh [1] off a quiet
street away from the confrontations.
A report[2] from the North Eastern Federation of
Anarchists posted to a-infos indicates that many
anarchists are amongst those arrested including a
couple of NEFAC members who were arrested before
the protests started. This confirms the political
nature of the arrests being made, which are
primarily aimed at weakening the effectiveness of
the protests. NEFAC also warn that "The police is
looking for scapegoats." and ask YOU to "..put
pressure on Canadian embassy and consulate NOW. We
also call a world wide support demo Monday morning
(they are going to court then)."
Those struggling to shut down the FTAA summit are
part of the international surge in struggle against
capitalism. Those of us who couldn’t be in Quebece
can contribute by picking up the phone and putting
pressure on the Canadian regime via their
consulates and embassies. Demand the immediate
release of all those arrested. Also you can email
any or all of the addresses at the end of this
message. Below is a form protest letter you can
copy and paste into your mail. I strongly suggest
you personalise it a little before you send it for
maximum effect.
SAMPLE PROTEST EMAIL
"To whom it concerns:
I am alarmed at the political repression of
protesters your regime is carrying out on the
streets of Quebec. The arrest of activists before
the protests, and in particular of Jaggi Singh by a
secret police snatch squad, demonstrate that the
major purpose of these arrest’s is to make the
protest less effective. I demand you release all
those arrested now.
Signed"
Emailto
FOOTNOTES AND CONTACT DETAILS
[1]
9
[2]
Dublin embassy
Address: The Canadian Embassy, 65 St. Stephen’s
Green,
Dublin 2, Ireland Telephone (011 353 1) 478-1988
Facsimile (011 353 1) 478 ..
Email:
Other embassies
info/CANembassy.html
Mailing Address
The Right Honourable
Jean Chrétien
Prime Minister of
Canada
Office of the Prime
Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1A 0A2
Telephone Number
(613) 992-4211
Fax Number
(613) 941-6900
Email Address
Member of Parliament
Complaining to Quebec Police
es/Quebec.html
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More on the author
cmaq
Respect
21.04.2001 19:13
To all those who have been arrested and put themselves in dangerous situations: Much respect and solidarity.
Keep up the resistance
Spaniel
e-mail:
Dodgydeals@tesco.net
Now or Never
21.04.2001 20:15
ana rchy