And they call it democracy
Last Friday, I attended Bruce Cockburn’s concert at theGypsy Tea Room. The performance was excellent, and, as I expected,he played “Call it Democracy,” which seems especiallyrelevant in light of imminent events. I’d like to share someof the lyrics with you.
Padded with power here they come/ International loan sharksbacked by the guns/ Of market hungry military profiteers/ Whoseword is a swamp and whose brow is smeared/ With the blood of thepoor.
The Free Trade Area of the Americas meetings will be held nextweek in Miami, from the 19th to the 21st, and things are gettingexciting already. An Independent Media Center has been set up(www.ftaaimc.org), and it is through this resource that I learnthat three activists, all medics, were apparently arrested onTuesday while walking along the street. Other activists have beenreporting police harassment, even with the events themselves abouta week away. Local activist groups are preparing to receive theircomrades from around the nation and around the world, some of whomhave arrived already. All the necessities are being taken care of:legal support, medical teams, Food Not Bombs to provide therequisite vegan food and so on.
The police and various self-styled “securityexperts” have been propagating the usual lies about theactivists, and the corporate media have been repeating theirfalsehoods. At the same time, some worthwhile articles have beenappearing in the corporate media that will help to get the publicsomewhat educated about what exactly is going on in Miami. That isquite a relief, of course, but there is still a lot to be desiredwhen it comes to press coverage. It seems that a number ofreporters are going to be “embedded” within policeunits, in a manner that seems blatantly designed to mimic therelation between the military and the media during the Iraq war.Some activists have been quick to decry the move, though it mayhave very little total effect on news coverage. It seems that notall reporters will be “embedded” to begin with, and,besides, the Independent Media Center, in its first-everappearance, was able to compel CNN to retract its lies about theconduct of the Seattle Police Department during the WTO protests of1999.
See the paid-off local bottom feeders/Passing themselves off asleaders/ Kiss the ladies shake hands with the fellows/ Thenit’s open for business like a cheap bordello/ And they callit democracy…
From a tactical perspective, the situation in Miami will bearsome resemblance to the Quebec City protests of 2001. Besides theFTAA being the focus of both events, the organizers of the Miamimeetings have followed the Quebec City strategy of having all ofthe delegates stay in the same hotel, the Inter-Continental, inwhich the meetings will take place. As in Quebec City, the hotelcomplex will be surrounded by a purpose-built security barrier,and, like in Quebec City, this barrier will probably be the focusof a direct, concerted assault. The meeting organizers are intenton avoiding another situation like the famous “Battle InSeattle” of 1999, where direct action was able to preventmany delegates from even leaving their hotels, thus helping ensurethe collapse of negotiations. This scenario has been harder toreplicate ever since and will be difficult in Miami; however, thereis no reason to believe that this will be impossible. A section ofthe wall actually was brought down in Quebec City, thoughunfortunately, the activists on the scene were unable to followthrough on it. A myriad of other forms of nonviolent direct actionwill surely take place in Miami, and the police repression islikely to be just as intense as ever, if not more so.
One day you’re going to rise from your habitual feast/ Tofind yourself staring down the throat of the beast/ They call therevolution.
Beyond the overall strategic significance of the FTAA, theprotests themselves will provide yet another opportunity todemonstrate the devotion of the movements for global justice.Protests are also referred to as “demonstrations” forexactly that reason. Even if the Miami Police Department and CityCouncil crack down on activists as harshly as some suspect theywill, in the end, analysts all over the world will still bewatching. The crowd watching continues to grow, and thus so doesthe crowd “doing.” Needless to say, next week will beinteresting.
