IMC Ecuador: More than 10,000 people demonstrated in the streets as the trade ministers of all the countries of the Americas (except Cuba) gather in Quito, Ecuador to further the negotiations of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). In their usual fashion, police lofted tear gas, beat protesters, and shot lead bullets in the air, even though the thrust of the protests was aimed at getting "a seat at the table" with the government and corporate crooks -- who at best would allow them in to humor them, not out of any genuine desire to comply with their demands. Solidarity actions took place in Sao Paulo, Montreal, Seattle, Washington DC, and other cities thoughout the hemisphere.

In the Bay Area, on 11/1 an emergency demonstration to protest repression in Quito was held at Chevron-Texaco, which has been responsible for decades of ecocide in Ecuador. The Bay Area Social Forum met on 10/27 to hold workshops on the FTAA, globalization and its impacts locally, as well as a mock trial of George W. Bush. On 10/28, a protest was held at the world headquarters of the Bechtel Corporation (near Beale and Market in SF). Report | Photos Bechtel is suing the government of Bolivia, after massive popular resistance in the city of Cochabamba forced the government to end its water privatization deal with Bechtel. stopftaa.org