Home > Programs > 2002 Ministerial on the FTAA > Quito Report: October 31, 2002

Seattle in Quito?

Posted: October 31, 2002
VIew more photos of the events in Quito in the photogallery.

Army Arrives to Quell Protests Against Free Trade Agreement

Quito, October 31, 3:45 PM: At 2:00 PM today the Army arrived in downtown Quito, apparently to restore order to a city at a standstill under clouds of tear gas, as tens of thousands of peasants, indigenous people, students and members of civil society from across the Americas tried to reach the trade ministers meeting at the downtown Marriot Hotel, to present them with a petition.

Yesterday a group of women from across the Americas calling themselves "Women for Life" took over a McDonald's in protest of the ploy by the U.S. government to use the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement to inundate local economies with fast food and cheap products that will drive local people out of business. After burning imported American clothing, they were dispersed by police, who are guarding all McDonald's in the city today.

A morning rally today at the Arbolito Park, gave way to three separate marches toward the cordoned-off hotel where the trade ministers of 34 countries in the Americas were to meet to negotiate the FTAA. According to reports, at an early morning official press conferences, reporters were informed by a U.S. official that the media would be excluded from the meeting itself.

"That they have to negotiate in secret, out of the sight of the people, shows how much governments are ashamed of what they are doing here,"said Peter Rosset, co-director of Food First/The Institute for Food and Development Policy, who is participating in the protests. "The U.S. is trying to force governments to sign an agreement that spells the end of a way of life for peasants and indigenous people. The negotiators are afraid of the ire of the people," he added.

At 10:00 AM the peasant march, headed for the Marriot Hotel, and was shortly joined en route by the student march, and later by the march of indigenous peoples. The peaceful marches soon reached the police barricades cordoning off the area around the hotel, where standoffs ensued at multiple entry points around the perimeter. At one point students placed a rose in the gun barrel of one of the riot police.

After student protesters climbed atop a water cannon, the police responded by firing tear gas canisters at the crowds. "The police behaved unconscionably," said Rosset, who was at the scene. "They fired at face level, so that people ran, and then lobed more grenades over our heads so they exploded in front of us, turning the crowds back in total panic." As a result of the panic, a woman tripped and dropped the baby she was carrying. The baby was seriously injured and was carried of in a bloodstained ambulance together with the crying mother. protesters said they held the police 100% responsible for this incident.

As numerous other tear gas laden confrontations popped up around the perimeter, national indigenous leaders tried to negotiate with police, asking that a delegation be allowed in to present the petition to the ministers. However, that was when the army rolled in, and protesters decided to march back to the Arbolito Park to regroup and strategize, where they are at this moment, as military helicopters fly criss-cross routes over the city.

"This looks, feels and smells like Seattle," said Peter Rosset, referring to the 1999 protests against the World Trade Organization (WTO), which is basically a global version of the proposed FTAA. "The difference here is the presence of tens of thousands of indigenous people and peasants from all over Ecuador, and from many other countries in Latin America. They mean business when they say they will not allow their governments to sign a death agreement, called FTAA."