Quito, Ecuador – A group of Indian activists and university students tried to storm a McDonald’s restaurant Wednesday as part of growing protests ahead of free trade talks scheduled this week.
Some 30 protesters, angry with the Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA, were stopped outside the American fast food restaurant by employees and police guarding the U.S. embassy a block away.
The FTAA agreement would create a free trade zone in 2005 throughout the Americas. While proponents herald it as a way out of poverty in the hemisphere, detractors say American and Canadian companies will use market access to crush Latin American competition.
“What we have done until now is give up national markets to no avail — we do not export anything and they export everything to us,” former Costa Rican president Rodrigo Carazo told television Channel 8.
With protesters descending on Quito from across Latin America ahead of Friday’s meeting, Ecuadorean authorities have assigned more than 5,000 police to provide protection for the gathering. As part of tightened security, more than 50 elite police troopers took up positions on the street outside the U.S. Embassy.
In another part of the city, about 100 demonstrators clashed with police guarding access to a hotel in which some 900 businessmen were meeting ahead of the free trade talks.
Thomas Donohue, visiting president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (news – web sites), said he hoped that nations throughout the Americas will participate in the talks. Trade ministers from 34 countries have been invited.
“We can negotiate without problems, even though people are complicating things for their own reasons. The opportunities offered countries in the region are extraordinary,” he said.
In addition to street protests, the “Another America is Possible Forum” continued at two Quito universities with representatives from some 40 organizations, including Bolivian political opposition leader Evo Morales.
Morales, who rose as a leader of coca farmers and made a strong bid for Bolivia’s presidency in elections this year, urged “the people to fight against the FTAA so that the United States does not continue to dominate the world economy.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters from the cities of Guayaquil, 270 kilometers (170 miles) southwest of Quito; Loja, 425 kilometers (260 miles) south of the capital; and Tulcan, 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Quito, continued a weeklong march to the capital.
