Posted on 07/28/2003 7:35:51 AM PDT by Pikamax
Trade protesters smash Montreal windows Hundreds gathers to protest globalization at World Trade meeting
MICHELLE MACAFEE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL (CP) — Anti-globalization demonstrators smashed windows of downtown stores on today after failing to get access to a hotel where a World Trade Organization meeting was set to take place.
Some of the protesters targeted Gap and Burger King outlets on busy Ste-Catherine Street, cheering loudly as they heaved metal objects through their windows.
Earlier, police thwarted several hundred protesters in their bid to get into the Sheraton Centre hotel where the three-day WTO meeting was to take place, beginning Monday.
Riot police wearing gas masks blocked off access to the hotel, which is not far from where the vandalism took place.
Some of the protesters, fearing pepper spray or tear gas, also wore gas masks and covered their faces in scenes similar to those that ended in violence at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in 2001.
One organizer told the Montreal demonstrators to be confrontational but also to be disciplined and responsible in their bid to disrupt the meeting of 25 trade ministers who represent a cross-section of WTO members.
"Don't be stupid, there are lots of cops around but remember that we're here to confront these people," said Stefan Christoff, a spokesman for The Popular Mobilization Against the WTO.
Rodrigo Santos, 22, an animation student from Windsor, Ont., said he had a first-hand look in his native Chile at how multinationals hire people at low wages.
Santos, who came to Canada seven years ago, doesn't expect to stop the meeting from happening but said the main goal is to raise awareness.
"There's a chance we'll cause nothing and there's a chance we'll cause a lot of trouble but if somebody ends up thinking about things and can tell their children and maybe someone else, that's good enough for me," Santos said.
Tony Tracy, who works for the homeless in Toronto, said it is crucial for anti-globalization protesters to get their message across.
"I think the main reason would be the increasing shoring-up of profits at the expense of people," Tracy said. "Capital is moving across borders with increasing frequency on the backs of the poorest and most marginalized people of the world."
Tracy was not confident the meeting would be stopped but he said the goal is to build support and momentum among opponents to globalization ahead of a bigger WTO meeting this September in Cancun, Mexico.
Monday's march came a day after an eclectic group of activists ranging from anarchists and communists to refugees and housing advocates held a peaceful anti-WTO protest in downtown Montreal.
The 25 trade ministers will assess progress made to date with a trade treaty known as the Doha Development Agenda.
The meeting will likely be the last chance for the ministers to take stock of the negotiations and determine what kind of flexibility is still needed heading into the crucial full-scale WTO meeting in Mexico.
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