As delegates and heads of state from around the western hemisphere arrive in Miami to move forward on the FTAA agreements, so are tens of thousands of protesters who will oppose the expansion of treaties that expand capitalist power. Many protests, direct actions and convergences are taking place leading up to an enormous collective action on Thursday. The largest contingent of protesters comes from labor's AFL-CIO, relying heavily on steelworkers, whose livelihoods were destroyed during the late 80s and 90s because of trade agreements like NAFTA and GATT. The AFL-CIO has promised to bring many tens of thousands of workers out to confront the FTAA negotiators. But the protesters will be an extremely diverse group of people, with tens of thousands more people representing for Mexico solidarity, immigrant workers, the broad Coalition of Immokalee workers, environmental activists, Latin American solidarity, communists and anarchists.

In addition to the AFL-CIO protests, two more coalitions have called for direct actions, including a call for a padded bloc. The padded bloc will be the first-ever nationally coordinated defensive bloc in North America, with planning consultas held in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Denver, Oakland and elsewhere. The padded bloc will carry shields and wear padded clothing to protect themselves from police brutality, and a call has been issued for bloc participants to tear down the fence that has been built around the FTAA meeting place.

Full coverage is at FTAA Indymedia in Miami. More information is available from AntiFTAA.org, StopFTAA.org, ftaaresistance.org