Report: Surprise March People's Summit of the Americas

Around 10:00AM, on Saturday, April 18th, 2009, an international delegation of the IV People's Summit headed to Port of Spain. We were allegedly on our way to a tour of the city at a moment when Port of Spain was under strict security measures due to the Summit of the Americas. The security zones covered the whole capital, and did not permit many to go to work or find transportation for a week. We intended to enter the security zone and march with FITUN and OWTU members in Cipriani Blvd. Being Cipriani one of the most important figures in the history of labor movements in Trinidad and Tobago, the location of the march had symbolic value. It meant to assert the right of workers' organizations to speak publicly about their concerns at a time when the government had engaged in surveillance and disciplinary measures that limited  the activities planned by the People's Summit. (See previous reports for more information). The unannounced event intended to show that the IV People's Summit had planned to partake of a peaceful march through the capital before the government denied their request last week. 

At 11:00AM, we arrived to Cipriani Blvd. and marched around the statue of Cipriani, while policemen and women arrived to the neighboring plaza. At a press conference, FITUN and OWTU explained that they meant to reassert the right of Trinidadian people to express themselves in their own country. Soon after, the police began to move towards the area and surround the participants. Quickly FITUN and OWTU members moved the international delegation out of the security area and put us in buses on their way back to St. Augustine. In the meantime, union members marched east towards the Cathedral followed closely by heavily armed police. 

Union members described the event as "mission accomplished" because they had successfully avoided a confrontational encounter with the police while asserting their right to freely express their reality as workers. Héctor Moncayo, Colombian delegate of the Hemispheric Social Alliance, said: "Dada las condiciones de este país, parece ser algo muy bueno. Fue una manera de protestar entre otras cosas por las limitaciones que le impusieron a las actividades públicas de la Cumbre" (Considering the conditions found in this country, it seems to be a very good (event). It was one way to protest, among other things, due to the limitations imposed on the public activities of the Summit). Guillermo Churuchumbí, representative of indigenous organizations of the Andean region, affirmed: "Reafirmamos nuestro proceso de resistencia y mobilización. . . . Fue una protesta simbólica frente a la Cumbre de las Américas donde se están discutiendo asuntos de negocios . . . y nosotros no estamos de acuerdo" (We reaffirmed our process of resistance and mobilization . . . It was a symbolic protest with respect to the Summit of the Americas where financial issues are being discussed . . . and we do not agree). As we had previously reported, at the opening of the Summit, Churuchumbí called for a Pan-American project that privileged a "modelo del buen vivir" for all instead of the current model that emphasizes the production of profit for a few and the destruction and privatization of natural resources. 

After the march, the Summit met again at 3:00PM for a final rally at the University of West Indies, which was well attended by the local press. Military police had been more visible throughout campus all day long waiting for the rally. At the rally, a variety of local and international organizations expressed their desire for sustainable economic models and solidarity throughout the Americas. The Summit also released its message to the heads of state of the Americas. At the time of my departure, delegates of different countries and organizations were meeting to finish the official declaration of the Summit. These documents will soon be available online and on this blog. For more pictures of the march, click on the link above this report, http://tinyurl.com/CWZWTZ.