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Feature: Globalization & Dialectics
May 2001
'Solidarité' in Quebec
Editor's note: Four Northern Illinois University students traveled to
Quebec City to take part in the massive demonstrations against the Summit
of the Americas meeting, April 20-21. The purpose of the meeting was to
launch formal discussions on the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, a
package of agreements covering goods, services and investments among the
countries of the western hemisphere. The students discussed their
experiences at a meeting of the NIU Marxist-Humanist Forum on April 24.
MICHAEL: The oppression began before the protesters arrived. The mayor's
brilliant scheme was a chain link fence the locals called the "wall of
shame." The presence of the police was hardly noticeable because they were
inside the perimeter of the fence.
C.J.: We had very little access to the wall. We also had difficulty getting
away from the area when it was gassed.
Michelle: The local organizing was done by two groups CLAC (Convergence des
luttes anti-capitalistes) and CASA (le Comite d'Accueil du Sommet des
Ameriques). There were thousands involved in these actions, which the media
reported as only a dozen taking part. The fence area was divided into three
color-coded zones based on the level of risk involved. The big march was
enormous. One estimate was 60,000 people.
KIM: The first big action was a torch light parade on Thursday evening.
I've never seen that many anti-capitalist activists. I'd look back and all
I could see was people. It was really amazing to see that many radical
activists.
C.J.: This was an education you could not, and should not, get in a classroom.
Michelle: Friday was the first big major action, the "Carnival Against
Capitalism." This was the first time I saw the wall come down. Everybody on
the march was cheering and screaming when the wall came down. People were
getting gassed repeatedly. It was an act of defiance just standing there.
KIM: I went to bed Saturday night hearing the [tear gas] guns in my head.
It was a great blow to the cops because we didn't act like a mob.
MICHAEL: On Saturday there was a big concern about people getting
stampeded. But the control and the discipline shown by the activists were
amazing.
C.J.: The tear gas was so thick the cops had to bring in these giant
industrial fans to blow the gas away from the heads of state. The reality
was that the people of the city overwhelmingly supported the militancy of
the protest. People opened their stores for us in the middle of a tear
gas-filled intersection. I believe very strongly in non-violent direct
action, but I've never felt so much rage before. I saw cops fire tear gas
canisters at close range, then gas the medics who ran up to assist. They
were not interested in arresting us. They were interested in physically and
mentally demoralizing us.
KIM: I can't describe to you how much the gas hurts. You never knew where
it was coming from. One of the things that was great was the community that
was there. Complete strangers were coming up to you and asking "how can I
help?"
MICHAEL: The tear gas was able to flood the entire area. Twelve hours later
it was still lingering. It became unbearable to many of the protesters.
There were 450 arrests over the weekend. That is unbelievably small
compared to the number of the participants.
C.J.: The number one chant was "so-so-solidarité." There was a lot of local
organizing. The solidarity was amazing. There was not a division among the
protesters.
MIKE:: There's been a real growth in these large groups of people being
able to organize on this level. The most shocking thing was the community
response. This was on such a large scale that it was a culture shock.
KIM: I was surprised by the activist community itself. It was massive. I
wondered if there was going to be a connection between all of the groups.
There turned out to be a massive union of all the activists.
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