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NEW WORLD ORDER
The battle against "corporate globalism."

1912 President Woodrow Wilson: "Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the U. S., in the field of commerce and manufacturing, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it."

1921 Col Edward House reorganizes the Institute of International Affairs into the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

1922 Philip Kerr in Foreign Affairs: "Obviously there is going to be no peace or prosperity for mankind as long as [the earth] remains divided into 50 or 60 independent states until some kind of international system is created...The real problem today is that of the world government."

1933 President Franklin Roosevelt in a letter to Col. Edward Mandell House: "The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the government every since the days of Andrew Jackson..."

1945 President Truman: "It will be just as easy for nations to get along in a republic of the world as it is for us to get along in a republic of the United States."

1954 Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands establishes the Bilderberg conference at which international politicians and bankers will meet secretly on an annual basis.

1963 J. William Fulbright, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "The case for government by elites is irrefutable...government by the people is possible but highly improbable."

1973 The Trilateral Commission is established by banke David Rockefeller. Zbigniew Brzezinski is named director.

1979 Barry Goldwater: "In my view The Trilateral Commission represents a skillful, coordinated effort to seize control and consolidate the four centers of power -- political, monetary, intellectual, and ecclesiastical. All this is to be done in the interest of creating a more peaceful, more productive world community. What the Trilateralists truly intend is the creation of a worldwide economic power superior to the political governments of the nation-states involved. They believe the abundant materialism they propose to create will overwhelm existing differences. As managers and creators of the system they will rule the future."

1984 James McGregor Burns : "The framers of the U.S. constitution have simply been too shrewd for us. The have outwitted us. They designed separate institutions that cannot be unified by mechanical linkages, frail bridges, tinkering. If we are to 'turn the Founders upside down' -- we must directly confront the constitutional structure they erected."

1992 Former Citicorp Chairman Walter Wriston : "A truly global economy will require ...compromises of national sovereignty...There is no escaping the system."

1992 Strobe Talbott, Time Magazine: "All countries are basically social arrangements...No matter how permanent or even sacred they may seem at any one time, in fact they are all artificial and temporary...Perhaps national sovereignty wasn't such a great idea after all...But it has taken the events in our own wondrous and terrible century to clinch the case for world government."

1993 Henry Kissinger on NAFTA: "What Congress will have before it is not a conventional trade agreement but the architecture of a new international system...a first step toward a new world order."

1993, Council on Foreign Relations president Leslie Gelb on The Charlie Rose Show: "...you [Charlie Rose] had me on [before] to talk about the New World Order. I talk about it all the time. It's one world now. The Council [CFR] can find, nurture, and begin to put people in the kinds of jobs this country needs. And that's going to be one of the major enterprises of the Council under me."

1993 Washington Post ombudsman Richard Harwood does an op-ed piece about the role of the CFR's media members: "Their membership is an acknowledgment of their ascension into the American ruling class [where] they do not merely analyze and interpret foreign policy for the United States; they help make it."

Compiled by by D.L. Cuddy

NAFTA - DOWN ON THE FARM

PUBLIC CITIZEN: In the summer of 2001, family farmers and ranchers throughout North America are struggling. During the 1993 debate over the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement, U.S. farmers and ranchers were promised that NAFTA would provide access to new export markets and thus would finally bring a lasting solution to farmers' off-and-on struggles for economic success. Now, seven years later, the evidence shows farm income has declined, consumer prices have risen and some giant agribusinesses have reaped huge profits. For the past seven years, Midwestern and Plains states wheat farmers; ranchers in Montana, Texas and other states; vegetable, flower and fruit growers in California; lumber mill owners in Louisiana, Arkansas and Washington; vegetable growers in Florida; chicken farmers nationwide and others have suffered declining commodity prices and farm income while a flood of NAFTA imports outpaced U.S. exports to Canada and Mexico. Yet it was not farmers in Mexico or Canada who benefited from U.S. farmers' woes. Millions of campesinos throughout Mexico have lost a significant source of income and left their small corn farms. Some became farm laborers working in squalid conditions for poverty wages on large plantations growing produce for export to the U.S. Others moved to Mexico's cities where unemployment is high. Canadian grain and dairy farmers also face steeply rising debt during the NAFTA era. However, NAFTA has brought seven years of good fortune to many of the agribusinesses that pressured Washington, Ottawa and Mexico City to negotiate and ratify NAFTA's corporate- managed trade terms. Since NAFTA stripped away many safeguards for the folks who produce raw agricultural products, relative power and leverage has grown for large agribusiness conglomerates to exert pressure on both farmers and consumers.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: China exports six times as much to the United States as the US exports to China. And it is not just toys and clothing: China ships seven times as many computer parts to the US as vice versa . . . The $85 billion US trade deficit with China is just part of the story. The US has deficits with many nations, including its neighbors, Canada and Mexico. Last year, the total US trade deficit in goods fell just short of $450 billion, a record.

BETSY PISIK, WASHINGTON TIMES: The International Court of Justice criticized the state of Arizona for executing a German national in defiance of its wishes, insisting in its most explicit language that ICJ orders are binding on U.S. and other national courts. American authorities were scrambling to understand the consequences. They could not say whether the judgment would open the United States to financial claims from Germany, or whether the ruling would have any material impact on the U.S. legal system . . . The ICJ, also known as the World Court, had previously criticized the United States for breaching the Vienna Convention by failing to meet its obligation to notify a consulate when foreign nationals were charged with crimes.

ECONOMIST: Six countries are likely to find themselves added to the money-laundering blacklist compiled by the Financial Action Task Force, which is meeting this week in Paris. Egypt, Guatemala, Hungary, Indonesia, Myanmar and Nigeria are likely to join the list, while the Bahamas, Liechtenstein, the Cayman Islands and Panama may find themselves released from it for good behavior. This marks something of a triumph for the FATF, which is trying to tackle a problem of vast proportions. Some $500 billion-1.5 trillion a year (equivalent to 1.5-4.5% of gross world product) generated by illegal activities is washed through the banking system, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund . . . The FATF's strong-arm approach has had an impact, at least on legislators. Fear of being ostracized from the world's financial system has prodded most of the 15 governments [it blacklisted] into a flurry of law-making. The Bahamas has enacted 11 pieces of new money-laundering legislation in seven months . . . Less happily, Russia, the FATF's chief enemy, drags its feet. The Duma has yet to pass a money-laundering bill. The Philippines has not produced one, although its central bank has issued a new set of guidelines for the banks. One country has done nothing at all: Nauru, in the South Pacific. Presumably it is by now a holiday destination for Russians and tax accountants.

NEW IDEAS IN PROTESTING

DANIEL MCGRORY AND IAN GOMECHE, TIMES, LONDON: Security chiefs across Europe are pondering a new line in protest. British anarchists have chartered a train to take more than 500 of them to Genoa in air-conditioned comfort to join the expected violent showdown at next months G8 summit. Anarchist leaders are paying £60,000 to the state-owned French railway, SNCF, to beat the blockade of the port city being set up by Italian police. After a masterful marketing operation, Globalise Resistance has sold all the places on what police are already calling the Anarchist Express and will even turn a small profit on their venture . . . Guy Taylor, a spokesman for Globalise Resistance, said that the travelers were aware of attempts to keep visitors like them away from Genoa and he expected that efforts would be made to cut their journey short. But he had a contract with SNCF to get them there . . . All the places have been sold. The train will have a conference carriage in which the passengers will be able to discuss their tactics as they travel south. It will double as a disco for their one night on board. Selected journalists are being taken along for the ride on the 540-seat train, but they have to pay £250 a head, with the profits from the media organizations going to Globalise Resistance.

REUTERS: The House approved a measure to force Mexican trucks to first meet American safety standards before they are allowed more access to American highways. Passage of the amendment, sought by Democrats, was unexpected and unless reversed will confound Bush administration plans to open U.S. highways to Mexican trucks next January under the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as NAFTA . . . The amendment to block the department from going ahead with the plan was backed by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans allied with organized labor. The Teamsters had lobbied aggressively in favor of the amendment, and 82 Republicans joined 201 Democrats and two independents in voting for the measure. The Senate has yet to act on the proposal.

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE: Warsaw was a city under siege as hundreds of police with clubs were out on the streets to protect visiting US President George W. Bush from everything from terrorists to tomato-throwing protesters . . . A coalition of Polish leftists, green and anti-globalization groups planned to stage at least two demonstrations against Bush on Friday but pledged the protests would be peaceful.

ENS: Thousands of people in the streets of Gothenborg are protesting the Bush climate stance in the face of police repression which protesters say is an attempt to criminalize dissent, through repression and violence. Protesters target climate policies of the U.S. President from Texas. People who traveled from across Europe to protest were forced to abandon the Hvitfeldska School where they were staying after an unannounced forced entry by several hundred fully equipped and armed riot police. "The police are attempting to label us as terrorists," one group said, "but we are simply attempting to exercise our political rights, and seeking to build alternatives to the current genocidal capitalist world system. We are not armed, but actively exert the right to protecting our bodies and property from police attacks." Police repeatedly attacked withdrawing protestors outside the convergence center, using dogs to drive them from the area. They were able to leave without identifying themselves, but they had to allow the police to search their belongings.

WORLD TRIBUNE: The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in its latest report that the arms race in the Middle East and Asia have led to a rise in world military expenditures. The spending has been on the rise since 1998, when it was at the lowest level of the post-Cold War period.

THE MEETING THAT DARE NOT SAY ITS NAME

REUTERS: EU enlargement and the bloc's military role, NATO's future and developments in Russia and China will top the agenda when senior Western business leaders, politicians and a sprinkle of royalty meet in Sweden this week. The Bilderberg group, a semi-secret discussion forum for the Western world's power elite, will hold its annual meeting in the town of Stenungsund on the Swedish west coast on May 24-28, Swedish newspapers reported. A 900-metre long metal fence has been erected around Hotel Stenungsbaden, the meeting venue, to keep intruders away, regional daily Goteborgs-Posten said, publishing a picture of the fenced-in hotel . . . The Bilderberg group, named after the hotel where it first met in 1954, was formed early in the Cold War era in reaction to a growing Communist threat. Today, many critics see it as a conspiracy and an agent of a new capitalist world order. Bilderberg member Jacob Wallenberg, chairman of the board of commercial bank SEB and head of Sweden's influential Wallenberg family whose empire has a finger in most big Swedish industries, played down the group's importance. "This is one of many meetings all over the world where decision-makers get together," he told the daily Dagens Nyheter, which earlier published the main agenda topics. Invited as speakers, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair were groomed at Bilderberg meetings before rising to fame as U.S. President and British Prime Minister respectively . . . "Even though no formal decisions are made...this group, together with many others, has contributed to shaping the kind of capitalism we have today and cemented the world's leading business elites together," Goran Greider, editor-in-chief of Dala-Demokraten, a regional Swedish daily, said in a live studio debate on Sweden's TV4 television. Bilderberg participants abide by the so-called Chatham House rule, which forbids everyone present from disclosing what anybody else has said. "The secrecy is regarded as very provocative. Men in power talk towards consensus behind closed doors on timely issues on the political agenda," Ulf Bjereld, a political science professor at Gothenburg University, said.

THE OLYMPICS AND GLOBALIZATION

UTAH INDY MEDIA:The Olympic Games have become one of the world's largest development projects, never visiting permanent venues, requiring instead the rapid development of potential host cities wishing to appear prepared for the Olympics. In many cases, including Salt Lake City, a variety of massive infrastructure developments, such as the 17 mile interstate re-construction and the development of light rail, precede the Olympic opening ceremonies. Simultaneously, devastating "improvements" such as the conversion of a mountainside in Park City, Utah into a massive ski jump facility are declared benefits to the community, regardless of the fact that in the two years since its opening it has held little practical value for the community . . . Second, despite claims that they would "leave the environment of Utah in a better condition then they found it," SLOC committed less than one-tenth of one percent of its budget to environmental programs and protection. The Olympic Committee actually [provided] more federal aid for athlete doping programs then for environmental protection . . . Third, the Games freely subsidize themselves with money from harmful multi-national corporate sponsors such as Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Texaco, who are eager to capitalize upon the Olympic image . . . Sergio Zyman, Coke's advertising director stated that "sports more than any other activity connects with consumers directly in the stem of the brain, rather than in the front lobe where reasoning and calculation take place." Coca-Cola spent more than $350 million for sponsorship, advertising, and marketing at the 1996 Atlanta Games alone.

Jelle van Buuren, TELEPOLIS, DENMARK: Dutch police can get easier access to personal information of clients stored in company's databases. All the information stored by companies will be available to the police, proposes the commission Mevis in a report. The minister of Justice said he would adopt the proposals in new legislation. According to the commission, lead by Professor P. Mevis, the current investigative powers no longer satisfy the needs of the police in the information society. Privacy rules are often an obstacle, as are legal definitions, which are not adjusted to the digital developments . . . The commission therefore proposes new investigative powers for the police. Police officers should, without the need of a legal order, get the power to ask personal information like name, address, living place, client number, bank account, access codes, and registration plate . . . A whole range of companies will be forced to work with the police: telephone companies, Internet providers, lease companies, car rental companies, travel agencies, flying companies, garages, real estate agencies, credit card companies, insurance companies, mortgagors, transport companies, banks, accountants, chemical industry, chambers of commerce, educational institutes, art houses, hospitals, hotels and jewelers.

MARC ROTENBERG, ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFO CTR: It is important to understand that the Echelon inquiry of the European Parliament began with a very real concern about US economic espionage based on the loss of certain commercial contracts and prior experience with electronic surveillance of European trade officials.

But that is not where the report ends up. The final report makes clear that electronic surveillance raises far-reaching issues concerning the rights of citizens and the need for government accountability. It cites international human rights instruments, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It urges adoption of better techniques, such as encryption, to safeguard private communications. It draws attention to growing concerns about surveillance by EU countries. It is the most far-reaching report to date on the extent of electronic surveillance by government. I think Jim Bamford describes the problem well in his recent book, 'Body of Secrets,' when he says: "The issue for Europe is not whether UK-USA's Echelon system is stealing trade secrets from foreign businesses and passing them on to competitors; it is not. The real issue is far more important: it is whether Echelon is doing away with individual privacy -- a basic human right." Bamford concludes: "Unchecked, UK-USA's worldwide eavesdropping network could become a sort of cyber secret police, without courts, juries, or the right to a defense. His words are eerily reminiscent of the warning from Senator Frank Church almost thirty years ago that if the NSA were ever allowed to use its powers domestically, "No American would have any privacy left. . . . There would be no place to hide."

A COALITION IS ATTACKING the secrecy of NAFTA's Chapter 11 tribunals, arguing it violates Canadians' rights to freedom of the press and freedom of expression. The coalition filed a legal challenge in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The Sierra Legal Defense Fund filed the challenge on behalf of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and Democracy Watch. NAFTA's Chapter 11 gives foreign corporations the power to sue governments for infringing on their investments. Claims are heard by tribunals behind closed doors. The secrecy of the tribunals calls into question the legitimacy of the entire Chapter 11 process, argue the groups. "Corporations are using Chapter 11 to launch a wholesale attack on the power of our governments to govern, to protect the environment and provide public services. Under NAFTA's rules, they can do this with impunity. This case confirms the government approaches trade without any regard for democratic rights." said Judy Darcy, CUPE National President.

- Growth in income of top 1% of American households 1979-1997: 157%
- Growth in income of middle one-fifth of American households 1979-97: 10%
- Decline in income of bottom one-fifth of American households 1979-97: - 1%

[Congressional Budget Office; after-tax income]

LETTER TO OUR LEADERS

Dear Senators Lieberman and Helms,

I've just read about your proposal to give $100 million to support Cuban dissidents. I think that's just marvelous. But why stop there? Why not offer some support to American dissidents, of which I'm one? We can certainly use support of many kinds. For example at major protests in Seattle, Washington, Philadelphia and Los Angeles in the past 1 1/2 years we've suffered in the following ways:

-- Police closed down protest headquarters, confiscating personal property, puppets, signs, banners, costumes, food, literature, medical supplies, etc.
-- Protesters were tear gassed, pepper sprayed, water cannon blasted, arrested en masse for no cause at all
-- Those jailed had their heads smashed into concrete walls; were deprived of water, food and toilet for extended periods of time, forced to urinate on themselves; handcuffed from one wrist to the opposite calf, making sleep virtually impossible.
-- Women prisoners were sexually molested and strip searched in front of male guards.
-- Police infiltrated protest organizations and intercepted their email, fax and phone communications.

This list is a very partial one, but I'm sure you get the idea. Inasmuch as the government needs so much money now to give the rich a tax cut, we won't expect a matching $100 million, but rest assured that whatever amount you see in you heart to provide us with will be put to good democratic use.

In solidarity, William Blum

Blum is the author of "Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II" and "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower."

JANET BAGNALL. MONTREAL GAZETT: If anti-globalization protester Jaggi Singh had been a sex offender or a member of a biker gang, he probably would have been released from prison a lot earlier than Monday evening. It is unlikely that the 29-year-old activist would have been held even overnight were he anyone other than who he is, a high-profile political activist. Full-fledged gang members have been charged with threatening to kill a police officer and not been kept in jail for two minutes, never mind the 17 days that Singh spent in Orsainville jail following his arrest at the Summit of the Americas conference in Quebec City. Unfortunately for Singh, the Quebec justice system took far more seriously the idea that someone "assaulted" police officers in full riot gear with toy teddy bears than it does real, live physical assault. Or sexual assault, for that matter. Or uttering death threats. Or even pretending to be a police officer while you're sexually assaulting minors. People who committed crimes such as those in the past several months in Quebec got bail right away. Jaggi Singh did not.

SINGH WASN'T the only one trapped by Canadian legal inconsistency. A man attempting to enter Canada at Jackman, Maine, around the time of the protest was refused admittance because a background check found that he had been convicted of drunk driving in 1969. Another ex-DUI, however, was not only admitted but, as a letter to the New Hampshire Gazette notes, George Bush "was even seen talking and shaking hands with leaders attending the summit."

DC STATEHOOD GREEN PARTY: Anti-globalization protesters have dismissed the FTAA's democracy clause as a superficial gesture to diffuse protest against the power of free trade authorities to nullify national and local environmental, labor, and human rights protections. But the clause offers a basis on which the U.S. can be challenged because Congress and the White House deny DC residents self-governance and can overturn locally enacted legislation: "Any unconstitutional alteration or interruption of the democratic order in a state of the hemisphere constitutes an insurmountable obstacle to the participation of that state's government in the Summit of the Americas process." DCSGP members, many of whom participated in protests against FTAA, WTO, and other pacts that promote corporate globalization and helped organize the D.C. demonstrations against the IMF and World Bank in April 2000, compare the anti-democratic nature of these agreements to the District's own colonial status.

WAR AGAINST DEMOCRACY

CANADIAN PRESS: The RCMP said Thursday it used 3,009 canisters of tear gas and 502 plastic bullets while dealing with protesters at last month's Summit of the Americas. That figure is in addition to a previously released statement that Quebec provincial police used 1,700 tear-gas canisters and 320 rubber bullets. A Quebec government-appointed panel said in a report last week that police used "abusive" amounts of tear gas. Police also erred and placed protesters at risk by shooting them with plastic bullets, the panel concluded. However, officers did not violate the constitutional rights of peaceful protesters at the mid-April gathering of 34 political leaders, it also said. Police used so much tear gas that they had to order more from the United States. More than 400 people were arrested and scores were injured during the summit.

NESSIE. SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN: Last month, as the corporate media churned out predictable misinformation, the Independent Media Center provided a voice for a diverse group of people mobilizing across the hemisphere against the FTAA and the so-called Summit of the Americas. Corporate media, by contrast, spent as little time as they could get away with on the subject. Most of that was obvious distortion. One network's evening news showed a 30-second montage. This consisted primarily of close-ups of a hand making the sign of the horns, a hammer-and-sickle banner, and a guy in a mask kicking in a windshield. While the guy was kicking in the windshield the voice over said, " ... and some people - anarchists - who just came to make trouble ..." Then a few minutes was devoted to four pundits. Two of them acknowledged that some concerns about the FTAA may be somewhat legitimate, perhaps, at least as the FTAA stands now. The message was clear. If you stay at home on the couch and allow talking heads to articulate your concerns, your concerns may be somewhat legitimate, perhaps, maybe a little. But if you get off the couch to protest, let alone to take direct action, then you are a devil-worshiping, communist, mindless thug and a trouble maker.

REUTERS: The World Bank said it had canceled a conference on how to fight poverty due to take place in Spain next month because of concerns anti-globalization groups would try to disrupt the event. "Despite our efforts to approach some of the groups that plan to demonstrate and include them in the conference, the intention of many of these groups...is to interrupt it," the World Bank said in a statement. "A conference on reducing poverty should take place in an atmosphere of peace, without provocation, violence or intimidation," the statement said . . . Spain's Economy Ministry said the meeting would now take place via the Internet.

WENDY BREWER, PC ADVISOR, ENGLAND: The government is backing EU plans to extend the state's power to snoop at private emails. Under the proposals, all email communications will have to be retained by ISPs for a seven-year period. "Only people who have something to hide should be worried," said a spokesperson at the Department of Trade and Industry. "The government will only have cause to browse emails if they have their suspicions about a user. They simply don't have the time or money to check every email sent." The proposals were revealed in a leaked EU report . . . "This was meant to strike a balance," said a press officer for the EC. "Governments need maximum powers to catch cyber criminals, but there will always be people who are unhappy."

THE REGISTER, LONDON: The official EU body that represents the member governments will recommend the long-term retention of personal data at a meeting with the European Commission later this month, according to documents leaked to London-based civil liberties journal State Watch. The Council of the European Union, which represents the 15 member governments, will discuss implementing a policy originally designed with the FBI six years ago. It calls for the retention of "every phone call, every mobile phone call, every fax, every e-mail, every website's contents, all internet usage, from anywhere, by everyone, to be recorded, archived and be accessible for at least seven years," notes the journal. The proposal gives law enforcement agencies powers far beyond authorized, approved interceptions. Existing provisions permit data to be retained for the length of the billing period, up to 90 days . . . Anonymity is bad for business Last November, the Council's Working Party on Police Co-operation put its case succinctly:- "It is impossible for investigation services to know in advance which traffic data will prove useful in a criminal investigation. The only effective national legislative measure would therefore be to prohibit the erasure or anonymity of traffic data." . . . The law enforcement agencies, argues the proposal, must have access to "user addresses, equipment identities, user name/passwords, port identities, mail addresses etc" The agencies are also to be provided with "the full name of the person (company), the residential address and credit card details." The Council's proposal takes its cue from UK law enforcement body NCIS (National Criminal Intelligence Service), which last year proposed that telcos and ISPs store data for one year for 'real-time monitoring' purposes, after which the data would be archived for seven more years in a gigantic new data warehouse.

MAY DAY IN LONDON

JOAN VIDAL & TANIA BRANIGAN. GUARDIAN: There was a backlash from protesters and sections of the labor and trade union movements against the "frenzy of aggression" by police, the media and the London mayor, Ken Livingstone, towards tomorrow's May Day celebrations and protests in the capital. With more than 9,000 police ready to make preventive arrests and on order to stamp on any trouble, there was concern that the zero tolerance policy could incite violence and was a "brazen abuse of civil rights." In a letter to the Guardian, 27 union representatives, including journalists, teachers, lecturers, car workers, miners and civil servants, declared their support for the anti-capitalism demonstrators and condemned what they called the establishment's over-reaction to the planned protests. They questioned the media's role in the build-up to the events, which has included widespread accusations that protesters would be making bombs and wielding swords . . . The publications of photographs of people 'suspected' by police of 'intending' to cause violence by newspapers with a pathetic or non-existent record of exposing capitalism's monstrous daily destruction of people and environment is witch-hunting, not journalism," say the signatories . . . Liz Leicester, chairwoman of the Camden branch of the public service union Unison, said: "There has been an incredible hype built up against these demonstrators, the vast majority of whom want peacefully to express their anger and despair at the real horrors of capitalism, and it is regrettable that Ken Livingstone is fuelling that. He always stood up for the rights of the Irish and on other civil liberties issues." The Labor MP Tony Benn compared the anti-capitalist movement with the trade unions and the suffragettes, saying: "Every single progressive movement in history has been denounced as violent."

ANANOVA NEWS: Police chiefs say they have no intention of using rubber bullets if tomorrow's May Day protest escalates into violence. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens's comments appear to be at odds with remarks by the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority. Lord Harris had earlier said there was a "possibility" that the Met would use the bullets against demonstrators if the situation got out of hand.

GUARDIAN: Tony Blair promised "absolute and total backing" for the police on the eve of expected May Day demonstrations in London. Mr. Blair said protesters passed the limits of tolerance when they sought "to inflict fear, terror, violence and criminal damage" on people and property. In a wide-ranging speech at the London Press Club awards, he denounced last year's disturbances as "idiocy" not idealism. Police said they would not use plastic bullets if the protests escalate into violence - contradicting earlier statements.

BBC. LONDON:  Riot police have dispersed crowds of anti-capitalist protesters who had converged on London's main shopping . . . There have been clashes throughout the day and some looting, but no repeat of last year's rioting and widespread damage. Up to 6,000 police officers corralled about 5,000 demonstrators in and around Oxford Circus, the hub of London's West End. There was a tense stand-off for more than eight hours as police and demonstrators came to blows in a series of minor scuffles during the day. But as night fell police drip-fed demonstrators out of the main crowd and by 2200 BST just a few hundred remained in the Oxford Street area.

AGENCE FRANCE PRESS: Police and demonstrators fought street battles in cities around the world as many May Day marches turned into violent protests against globalization, capitalism and political corruption. In Australia and Germany, dozens of police officers were injured and many more left-wing demonstrators arrested in clashes with riot squads . . . In Australia's main cities, an alliance of anarchists, Trotskyists, green groups, students and schoolchildren brought traffic to a standstill in a series of blockades aimed at big business.In Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, some protests turned violent and at least 60 police were injured and dozens of protesters arrested . . . In Berlin, some 500 protesters constructed a street barrier overnight and set it ablaze. When police, armed with water cannons, attempted to clear it, they were pelted with stones and bottles . . . In South Korea, 20,000 brushed aside a police barricade to defy a ban on taking their protests against the economic policies of President Kim Dae-Jung toward Seoul's main government district . . . "Overthrow capitalism and replace it with something nice," read a [London] banner. In Paris, at least 12,000 people took part in three separate and peaceful demonstrations organised by trade unions. Marchers included many employees of Marks & Spencer, Danone, Moulinex, Bull, Aventis and the French airlines Air Liberte and Air Littoral -- all companies that have suffered or are facing layoffs . . . In Japan, about 1.36 million workers attended rallies across the country . . . In Zimbabwe, the traditional Worker's Day rally turned into a confrontation between opposition groups and war veterans loyal to President Robert Mugabe, and riot police were sent to clear 5,000 people from Harare's Rufaro stadium. And in Moscow, where there were no reports of violence, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev joined a march by 17,000 trade unionists while Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov addressed some 15,000 supporters nearby.

QUEBEC

CBC: Bail hearings were held Wednesday morning for 20 protesters who have been held in detention since last weekend's Summit of the Americas demonstrations in Quebec City. All but one was released. Still in detention is high-profile activist Jaggi Singh, who was arrested on Saturday. Singh's alleged crimes: participating in a riot and participating in a demonstration, which is a violation of a previous bail order. But he is also facing another serious charge: possessing a weapon with dangerous intent. He allegedly had a wooden catapult when he was arrested. Police say Singh was going to use the catapult to fire Molotov cocktails across police lines. Judy Rebick, social activist, journalist and publisher, funded the construction of the catapult. She says Singh had nothing to do with it - and it was never intended as a weapon.
"It was to say, 'You're shutting us out from demonstrating on the streets of Quebec. This is a medieval way to do it, with a fence. So we're going to assault your fence, symbolically.'" The catapult fired three teddy bears at police before being disabled.

DIST: Our group, the Deconstructionist Institute for Surreal Topology, was responsible for the enormous catapult which helped lay siege to the Summit, and launched stuffed animals (infected with the plague) from inside the security zone. Prominent perma-protester Jaggi Singh has been nabbed and charged with possession of our catapult. Jaggi is not a member of our group, and has never been a member of our group. Nor will we ever let him become a member of our group, as his sense of humor does not meet the rigorous standards required by DIST. Jaggi was not involved in any way with any aspect of the project's planning, nor with catapult construction and deployment. Nor does Jaggi have the chutzpa necessary to smuggle a 25x10 foot catapult into the most heavily fortified city in Canadian history. Furthermore, we admonish him for managing to steal credit for our catapult. While it may not be his fault that the police were stupid enough to charge him for its possession, he should have known better than to take a look at it during the protest. It is no wonder fellow activists call him Braggi Singh. DIST would also like to applaud the brilliant satirical techniques employed by security forces. We thought we had reached the pinnacle of irony with our teddy-bear launching siege equipment, yet the security forces manage to upstage us with these absurd charges against Singh. We are humbled - this is even better theater than when they charged him with assault for speaking too loud into a megaphone. The kidnapping of Singh is also a brilliant strategic move, since with each nabbing, the size of his ego doubles. Soon, he will be so intolerable, that none of his fellow activists will be able to stomach working with him.

IT IS SHAMEFUL IN A DEMOCRACY like Canada that a fence was erected to shut out protesters. The fence and the actions of the police have been used to provoke and intimidate people who had a legitimate right to protest. - Sinclair Stevens, former cabinet minister in the Brian Mulroney government.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Can the US be permitted in the Free Trade Area as long as it denies democracy to its capital colony of DC?

QUEBEC NOTES

CLIFF PEARSON, QUEBEC INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTER, APRIL 22: The state of emergency declared last night for the headquarters of CMAQ, the Quebec Independent Media Center, has been rescinded. At approximately 10:44 p.m. EDT, members of the Quebec Legal Collective, a group of attorneys volunteering their services to protesters, arrived at the newsroom in case CMAQ personnel required legal assistance. At approximately 11:00 p.m. EDT, approximately 20 riot police fired rubber bullets down the stairs into the CMAQ foyer, injuring one activist. He suffered wounds to his leg and was treated at the scene by medics. CMAQ staff and reporters responded to the police assault by barricading the doors. By 11:06 p.m. EDT, the police retreated down Rue Cote d'Abraham to confront protesters. At 11:24 p.m. EDT, CMAQ had to block the doors with clothes and blankets to prevent tear gas -- presumably fired at the activists -- from seeping into the newsroom. At 12:57 a.m. EDT, CMAQ reporters confirmed via eyewitnesses that the Medical Center had been tear-gassed by riot police. The clinic was moved to the CMAQ building. As of 1:29 a.m. EDT -- Sunday, April 22, 2001 -- CMAQ staffers confirmed that the young man shot in the throat with a plastic bullet last night is in critical but stable condition at St. Foy Hospital in Quebec City, Quebec.

Other reports of serious injuries and police brutality continued to mount all last night and this morning and afternoon. People who had attended the previous protests in Seattle, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia continue to insist that the situation here is worse than all prior protests.

One of the more serious reports is that a man suffered eye injuries after being struck in the face by shrapnel from an exploding tear gas canister. The Quebec Legal Collective reports confirmation that more than 30 canisters of "noxious gases," such as tear gas and pepper spray, were fired in various places in the city last night. Besides gassing, many of the acts of police brutality include the firing of rubber and plastic bullets at protesters. Quebec Legal Collective observers have collected whole bullets and shells from the ground. The legal team also reports the use of metal "bean bags" shot from police weapons. Additionally, there is one confirmed report of a man with a broken arm hit by a tear gas canister reportedly fired at close range (less than one meter, or two feet). As for arrests, the Quebec Legal Collective confirmed -- by receiving calls from jailed prisoners themselves -- a total of 430 arrested protesters. Of these, 250 were arrested between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 3:00 am last night.

Some of the protesters arrested yesterday and Friday have been released. The charges are varied, and are mostly for minor infractions such as criminal mischief and "being suspect," a dubious term that does not appear to be a legal criminal charge.

Jaggi Singh, the activist reported kidnapped by police on Friday, is still in jail and police say he will not be released until Wednesday, April 25, 2001. Police have not said why he will be detained so long.

Additionally, the Quebec Legal Collective reports numerous eyewitness reports of over a dozen "targeted arrests" of protesters. Police have made targeted, pre-planned arrests of specific people, without regard to their current actions -- presumably as "preventive arrests." For example, the legal team reports three police cars pulled up on the side of the road, jumped out and tackled a person to the ground. In another situation witnessed by legal observers, two undercover police vans picked up three people as they were walking peacefully by a gas station.

Finally, the legal team reports that more than 300 people from the United States were turned back at the border attempting to enter Canada. People turned back had their personal belongings (including phonebooks, literature, and journals) photocopied and were interrogated about their political beliefs and activities before they were turned away. Over 15 people were detained at the New York and Vermont borders and have not yet been released.

INDY MEDIA. APRIL 22: There have been 430 confirmed arrests. Men and women have been separated, the Quebec Legal Team said. Conditions in the jails, according to frequent reports, are "deplorable." Men are being washed naked and hosed down with cold water in a courtyard in groups. They are being deprived of food, water or access to the bathroom. They were held in buses for as long as seven hours, breathing the residue of tear gas on their clothing the entire time. According to reports, tear gas canisters were going off near the buses as those arrested were boarded. The legal team says this is a clear infringement of civil rights because those arrested are entitled to three meals a day and personal dignity. Police have announced that they will arrest anybody caught in the streets with a gas mask. Meanwhile, residual tear gas pollutes the air and many people casually roam the streets. Police continue to traverse the city making individual arrests.

SUNDAY APRIL 22: 2:56 am EST Four medics and one videographer are trapped inside the abandoned medical center. They have been trapped inside for about three hours after they went there to recover mainly personal supplies and equipment. In a telephone interview, one medic said they are all doing well and not in need of anything, but they are not going outside for fear of being targeted by police. The abandoned medical center is located directly behind a new security perimeter established by police. Medics moved from that location to the CMAQ [the Quebec Indy Media center] due to concerns for the safety of patients. Last evening, police raided an alley in front of the medical center where people were being treated. The police drew their guns on medics and patients and forced them out onto the streets, the medic said. Once on the street, police ripped gas masks and goggles off people, as well as any equipment they were carrying, the medic added. The medics and patients were then forced to walk in a single file line toward CMAQ . . . Medics have been targeted by police throughout the protests. The medic said police have been shooting tear gas and concussion grenades at medics as they try to help people.

1:42 am Police have descended the stairs outside CMAQ and are arresting people standing outside the building. Reports are coming in that police are doing a sweep of the streets and randomly arresting people.

1:20 am The police have taken over the intersection outside of the CMAQ on Cote d'Abraham, which hundreds of activists occupied for most of the night. They advanced by shooting off dozens of rounds of rubber bullets and arrested a handful of people on their way. Unmarked cars followed the protesters who moved further down the street. Two riot police are pointing rubber bullet guns down the side stairs where the entrance of the CMAQ/Medic Center is, to stop anyone from ascending them.

12:29 am EST The lobby of CMAQ continues to function as the medical center and is full of people in need of aid.

11:42 pm Protesters have rebuilt a barricade of wood between them and the police on Cote d'Abraham for the third time tonight. This time, they are trying to reinforce it as deeply as possible. Police are firing more teargas directly at them.

11:39 pm The Quebec Legal Team has unconfirmed reports that protestors are being detained on buses at the prison and not being given water, food or access to bathrooms. Legal observers are attempting to meet with police to discuss the situation. The buses are being driven around the prison.

11:35 pm An independent journalist with official press credentials for the Summit of the Americas was audio recording protesters being arrested when police grabbed and broke his recorder. The police took the audio tape out of the recorder, at which time the journalist tried to get it back and in the process the tape broke. It contained a weeks worth of interviews.

11:18pm The FBI did visit the Seattle IMC, nobody is under arrest, everything is cool, they are not confiscating anything.

11:04 pm EST The rumor of an activist being killed has been denied by the legal collective in Quebec city, although there are many injuries. The man in question was shot with a plastic bullet in the neck and is in critical condition.

10:01 pm Police have just charged running, tackling protesters and arresting them. They are now chasing the crowd down the street.

9:58 pm There are no reporters here from the mainstream media, as far as anyone has seen.

9:58 pm One protester was sent to the hospital after being shot in the kidney area with a rubber bullet. He may be bleeding internally. Stephen from the IMC NYC was shot in the leg and Salim from the San Francisco IMC was shot in the head and is bleeding.

CALIPHS COWER IN QUEBEC CAGE

TOM COHEN ASSOCIATED PRESS: Police sealed off the heart of old Quebec City on Thursday, creating a heavily guarded security zone to keep protesters and possible violence away from a summit of 34 leaders, including President Bush. Forklifts hoisted concrete blocks topped with wire mesh into busy intersections, and hundreds of police in bulletproof vests stood guard at spots along the 2.3-mile fence encircling meeting sites of the Summit of the Americas . . . Protesters have dubbed the barrier the "Wall of Shame" and liken to it to the Berlin Wall as a symbol of oppression and division.

CANADIAN AUTHORITIES initially barred Jeff Crosby, president of the IUE-CWA union at GE in Massachusetts, from crossing the border, but relented after phone calls began pouring into the Canadian Embassy in Washington.

COLIN POWELL IN THE NY TIMES: Working with our friends in the Americas is one of the first and highest priorities of President Bush's administration. If our neighbors are democratic and law-abiding, open to trade, and willing to cooperate with us on improving the environment, fighting drugs and stopping disease, we can make a vital difference in the life of every American . . . Free trade and freedom work together to make life better and our neighborhood safer . . . From the northernmost reaches of Canada to the southern tip of Chile, our children and our neighbors' children will all need to be able to use the latest tools and the best technologies to work together and succeed in the globalized world of the new century . . . President Bush and I are optimistic about the future for Americans here at home and in our larger neighborhood.

FORMER CABINET MINISTER SINCLAIR STEVENS IN TORANTO GLOBE: As [my wife and I] walked around the perimeter, a 40-year-old chap passed us, and asked: "Where is your gas mask?" I asked what he meant. He said: "There is gas farther on -- watch out." We continued until we saw our first contingent of riot-geared police lined up three deep behind a closed gate. They were an intimidating sight -- in battle dress, with helmets, masks, shields and assorted elaborate weapons. I was glad, this time, that they were inside the fence and we were outside . . .

I spoke with many of the people in the street, asked them why they had gathered, why they opposed the free trade proposals. It was a lively but friendly exchange. We were interrupted as the police down the road began an eerie drumming, rattling their riot sticks against their shields. Slowly, in unison, one six-inch step at a time, they began marching toward us. Noreen and I moved to the side of the street, as the protesters remained stationary. Some formed V signs with their fingers. To my horror, the police then fired tear gas canisters directly at those sitting or standing on the road. As clouds of gas began to spread, Noreen and I felt our eyes sting and our throats bake . . . One large policeman with the number 5905 on his helmet, pressed right against me and ordered me to get behind a railing. "I haven't done anything," I protested. "Why?" He simply replied: "Get behind the rail." Then he added, "and get down." I did so. I shook my head. I never thought I would ever see this kind of police-state tactic in Canada. What we witnessed that night was mild compared to events the next afternoon. This time, walked along the fence until we reached the gate at René Lévesque Boulevard, where a great crowd had gathered that included TV cameras and reporters. I was asked for an interview by a CBC crew but, before we could begin, dozens of tear gas canisters were fired, water cannons were sprayed and rubber bullets began to hit people nearby. Three times, I felt could not breathe, my eyes were sore and all I could do was run. In the bedlam, my wife and I were separated for almost three hours. She said she had almost passed out from the gassing. We lost something else, besides each other, last weekend in Quebec: our innocence. This government, and some reporters, like to brand the Quebec City demonstrators as "hooligans." That is not fair. I talked to dozens of them, mostly university students, aged about 20. They came to Quebec, not to have "a good time," as some suggest, but to express their well-thought-out views on a subject that is important to them, to all of us. I may not have agreed with their position, but I sure believe in their right to express it. The police had no cause to violently suppress it.

CHRIS STROM & ERIC LAURSEN. INDY MEDIA: Canadian police are cracking down at the border, searching people and photocopying items, and denying activists entry into the country . . . Police are searching everything from cars and luggage to wallets and diaries and questioning people about whether they are heading into Canada to protest the Free Trade Area of the Americas in Quebec City, activists said. Several activists have been denied entry in the last 48 hours; about 100 have been turned away since January, an activist said. There are no reports of items being confiscated or people being arrested, and many activists are converging in Burlington, VT after being denied at the border. However, authorities are photocopying items they search and asking people to provide documentation of any previous arrests, activists said. Activists with prior arrests at political demonstrations are being denied entry outright. One activist said border officers told her, "We can turn you away just because of a feeling." She was kept at the border for two and a half hours while her car and belongings, including a diary, were searched by police . . . Ultimately, she was permitted to cross but her friend was not because he had a prior arrest. Two activists traveling from New York City to Quebec City were removed from a passenger train after being told, "You're not getting into Canada." Other passengers appeared to have been taken off the train as well, and the entire train "seemed to be swarming with immigration agents and police." The activists were taken to an immigration office, where they were interrogated for more than an hour and photographed, and all documents in their possession were photographed as well. Canadian immigration's practice appears in many cases to be to detain people for 48 hours in a detention facility before letting them see someone. In this case, however, the activists were released on the American side after just a few hours with immigration.

MICHEL CHOSSUDOVSKY. EMPEROR'S CLOTHES: This is not a trade deal; it is the American Empire. Behind the FTAA are the powers of Wall Street and the military-industrial complex. Ironically, while local economies including public services would be deregulated, under the FTAA the production of weapons of mass destruction by America's major defense contractors would remain heavily subsidized... Although not officially on the FTAA agenda, the militarization of South America under "Plan Colombia", the signing of a "parallel" military cooperation protocol by 27 countries of the Americas is an integral part of the process of hemispheric integration. US strategic interests are at stake. The imposition of "free" trade by Washington is an instrument of economic conquest which serves US corporate interests as well as those of the military-intelligence-apparatus . . . The deregulation of national banking institutions is part and parcel of the Summit agenda. Supported by the Bush administration, Wall Street wants to extend its control throughout the hemisphere, eventually displacing or taking over existing national financial institutions. With the help of the IMF, Washington is also bullying Latin American countries into accepting the US dollar as their national currency. The greenback has already been imposed on five Latin American countries including Ecuador, Argentina, Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala. The economic and social consequences of "polarization" have been devastating. In these countries, Wall Street and the US Federal Reserve system directly control monetary policy. The entire structure of public expenditure is controlled by US creditors. Real wages have collapsed, social programs have been destroyed, large sectors of the population have been driven into abysmal poverty. While not officially part of the FTAA Summit agenda, the adoption of the US dollar as the common currency for the Western Hemisphere is being discussed behind closed doors.

MONTREAL GAZETTE: Quebec prosecutors are threatening to quit a special eight-member team set up by the provincial government to prosecute protesters arrested at the Summit of the Americas this month. They are objecting to what they claim is political interference with the judiciary on the part of summit organizers. One prosecutor has already left the team, and others are expected to follow. Prosecutors say provincial Justice Minister Paul Begin has directed them to delay all bail hearings of arrested protesters for the maximum three full days allowed by law, as a way of keeping them off the street for the duration of the summit, April 20-22. "This is political interference, and we should not stand for it," said one prosecutor who did not wish to be named. "It's a plan of battle to hold them in jail. We will not accept these directives."

FAST TRACK

STEVE HOLLAND, REUTERS: President Bush pledged to Latin America that after he returns from a hemispheric summit he will intensify his effort to get key trade negotiating authority from Congress . . . The fast-track authority, now called ``new trade promotion authority'' on Capitol Hill, allows the president to negotiate trade agreements with foreign governments without their being subject to amendments by Congress. Congress' role is limited to a final yes-or-no vote.

Bush's father, former President George Bush, had the negotiating Authority but it expired under President Bill Clinton in 1994. Bush has not yet formally requested it from Congress since fast-track authority faces an uphill battle . . . There is doubt that Bush will get the fast-track negotiating authority.

[Fast track is yet another assault on the consitutional responsibilty of the Senate to advise and consent on treaties. Under current Orwellian rules, there are no longer treaties involving trade, only 'agreements,' to which the Congress is expected to consent without changing a comma]

THE CORPORATE CONFEDERACY

USING WEAPONS such as NAFTA and GATT, American multinational corporations have effectively seceded from the American union. Like its southern predecessor, the new corporate confederacy is a rebellion against the United States and its Constitution, supported by disloyal politicians and driven by a compulsion for cheap labor. In fact, these corporations aren't loyal to any jurisdictions except their own creations. For example, corporations have filed more than a dozen cases under NAFTA's Chapter 11 investment provisions, which enable corporations to sue governments for infringements of their "investor rights." Since hearings are conducted in secret arbitration, information on cases is sketchy, but Michelle Swenarchuk of Multinational Monitor has dug out some of the details:

SUITS AGAINST CANADA

- Ethyl Corporation of the United States sued the Canadian government for $250 million and obtained, in 1998, a settlement of $13 million for the Canadian ban on the gasoline additive, MMT, a nerve toxin. The ban was reversed.

- US-based S.D. Myers, which handles transformers containing toxic PCBs, filed a claim for $30 million for losses it claims to have incurred during a ban on the export of PCB wastes from Canada. An arbitration tribunal found that the ban did violate NAFTA laws regarding treatment of foreign investors, and it is now determining whether S.D. Myers suffered damages.

- Sun Belt Water is suing Canada for British Columbia refusal to let it to export bulk water from BC. The government subsequently a law bans bulk water exports and inter-basin diversions by domestic and foreign investors alike. After failing in a British Columbia court, the company is now using NAFTA to seek damages of "between" $1 billion and $10.5 billion. The case is an example of using NAFTA in an attempt to overrule a domestic court, and to challenge actions of a sub-national government such as a state or province.

- In 1996, in yet another attempt to resolve timber wars, the Canadian and US governments signed the Canada-US Softwood Lumber Agreement. The agreement establishes quotas for exports and requires producers to pay a levy if their exports exceed their quota. The American company, Pope & Talbot, has challenged the agreement. The tribunal rejected P&T's claim that illegal expropriation had occurred, but decided to continue hearings on claims relating to other aspects of the case.

- United Parcel Service plans to sue Canada for $100 million, alleging that Canada favors its own public postal service, Canada Post, over UPS.

- US-based Ketcham Investments and Tysam Investments jointly own West Fraser Mills, a timber company. Ketcham and Tysam plan to file a claim that their timber quota under the US-Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement was arbitrarily cut, denying them rights afforded Canadian companies. They are seeking $10 million in damages.

Suits Against the United States

- The Canada-based Loewen Group is suing for compensation arising from alleged discrimination, denial of minimum standard of treatment and expropriation, claiming that a $500 million Mississippi state court verdict against it amounts to a breach of NAFTA. The verdict came in a suit brought against Loewen by a Mississippi company, O'Keefe, alleging fraudulent practices and other anti-competitive practices. Loewen eventually settled the claim for $175 million. The company seeks to recover $775 million alleging that the Mississippi decision against it was based on anti-Canadian bias. A tribunal has agreed to hear the case.

- Methanex announced that it will sue the U.S. government for $970 million due to a California order to phase out use of the chemical MTBE, a methanol-based gas additive.

- Mondev International, a Montreal-based real estate development firm, filed a claim against the U.S. government for $16 million. The case arises from the refusal of the city of Boston to permit it to expand a mall into a vacant lot in the 1980s even though Mondev had a contract with the city. Mondev successfully sued the city and its redevelopment authority for $16 million, but the decision was reversed on appeal due to state law protecting the redevelopment authority from liability..

- ADF, a Canadian fabricator of structural steel for complex structures, is suing the United States, seeking $90 million in compensation. ADF entered into a contract with Shirley Contracting Corporation to provide materials for construction of a Virginia highway interchange. ADF sought to fabricate products in Canada, using US-made steel. US federal government authorities held that this arrangement ran afoul of a "Buy America" requirement.

Suits Against Mexico

Metalclad, a waste-disposal company, claims that the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi breached Chapter 11 of NAFTA by refusing permission for a waste disposal facility. The governor deemed the plant an environmental hazard to surrounding communities, and ordered it closed down on the basis of a geological audit. Metalclad sought compensation of some $90 million for expropriation and for violations of national treatment, most favored nation treatment and prohibitions on performance requirements. This figure is larger than the combined annual income of every family in the county where Metalclad's facility is located. In August 2000, a tribunal found that Mexico had breached the agreement and awarded Metalclad $16.7 million, the amount it had spent in the matter. In this case, Metalclad proceeded to begin construction of the facility without having local approvals, claiming that it had assurances from the Mexican federal government.

- The Adams case involves a dispute over title to and use of land on which US investors had built vacation homes. A group of Mexican landowners won a claim in Mexican courts that the disputed land had been illegitimately taken from them by the Mexican government, which later authorized its use by the US investors. The Mexican Supreme Court ordered the land returned to the landowners, and Mexican authorities did subsequently return the land, including the vacation homes on it. The US. investors are seeking $75 million in compensation under Chapter 11.

CANADIAN PRESS: Canada's foreign affairs minister promised to make the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City the "most open and transparent" event, allowing protests but also providing protection for participants from 34 countries. The comment was ridiculed by protest organizers who are preparing to demonstrate at the summit that will take place in two weeks. "Without question, this will be the most open and transparent such event held on this continent," [minister] Manley said, while speaking to the Canadian Society in New York . . . "If 6,500 police armed with tear gas, pepper spray, white gas and plastic bullets, with a protest-free fence, is his definition of transparency, then we have a fundamental difference of what democracy is in this country," said Erin George, Ontario chairwoman for the Canadian Federation of Students.

MARK MACKINNON. GLOBE: Canadian immigration officials have put out an all-points bulletin to try to keep José Bové, the French farmer who gained notoriety for trashing a McDonald's, from attending next month's Summit of the Americas in Quebec City . . . "It's just another example of how our civil liberties are being suspended," said Maude Barlow, chairwoman of the nationalist Council of Canadians, the group that had asked Mr. Bové to speak in Quebec City . . . Immigration spokesman Richard St. Louis said Mr. Bové would be kept out of Canada because of his conviction related to the McDonald's incident. "There is a lookout for Mr. Bové because he is technically inadmissible to Canada . . . he has a criminal background," Mr. St. Louis said. Those with a criminal record cannot enter Canada without a special ministerial permit. However, Mr. St. Louis acknowledged the bulletin specifically advising customs officers to keep an eye out for Mr. Bové was unusual and tied to his stated intention to attend the summit. The campaign appears to be a broad one. American activist George Lakey - who was to give a keynote speech on non-violent protest at a planned event on Parliament Hill - was stuck for several hours at the Ottawa airport while authorities questioned him about what he would be doing while in Canada, before finally being released.

AGRIBUSINESS EXAMINER: Over one million Indian farmers demonstrated on March 19 at New Delhi's Kisan Ghat in what they termed a last-ditch fight against globalization and their government's "anti-farmer and reform policies." With the threat of a nation wide Satyagraha - direct action and a program for a parallel government - they had managed have a six-member delegation gain an appointment with the President of India the following day . . . In recent months agricultural issues have become the focus of attention of India's political parties, while scientists and NGOs have been voicing apprehensions about the effect of the World Trade Organization's trade liberalization process. India's government has acknowledged that the WTO is loaded in favor of the developed countries, and has been promised a spirited fight during the review now coming up.

JEFF GRAY. GLOBE: The country's largest postal union and an anti-free-trade group are taking the North American free-trade agreement to court, saying provisions in the deal that allow foreign firms to sue Ottawa violate Canada's constitution . . . CUPW and the council said they would challenge Chapter 11 in court, saying it was unconstitutional because it delegates the authority of Canadian courts to an international tribunal. "UPS is using NAFTA to try to grab a bigger piece of the lucrative urban courier market. This could undermine Canada's public mail-delivery service," CUPW vice-president Deborah Bourque said in a statement Wednesday. "If it succeeds, our public post office will be left with less business and less money to provide service, especially in rural areas." UPS says it is simply trying to ensure a level playing field for competition in Canada's courier business.

CANADIAN BROADCASTING: Thousands of protesters converged in Naples to protest against a global forum on information technology. It didn't take long before they were exchanging more than words with police. The anti-globalization demonstrators, including some who came dressed in helmets and carrying shields, were met by 4,000 officers in riot gear . . . For about a half an hour, protesters threw stones and police shot tear gas into the crowd. Police also hit demonstrators with batons and rubber bullets. Shopkeepers closed their stores and protesters smashed several store windows along the route. TV coverage showed some young people trying to charge past police. When it was over, at least 70 protesters, 40 police officers and four journalists were injured. About 100 people were arrested and one police commander was taken to hospital with serious head wounds . . . In Toronto, hundreds of activists are attending workshops on protest tactics like climbing and banner-hanging. They're preparing for the Summit of the Americas, which opens in Quebec City April 20. Organizers say the activists are being taught how to protest without using violence and how to respond if police use force against them. Similar seminars have been offered in Quebec over the past few months.

FIELD GUIDE TO FTAA PROTEST IN QUEBECK CITY: The police forces involved for this event represent the biggest security operation in the history of Canada . . . The police plan to create a closed area to 'protect' the FTAA meeting from protesters. This area will include the main hotels and the conference center. They will install a 2.4 mile long fence to surround this area . . . As some residents are opposed to this "wall of shame," the actual area may be smaller than the police initially said. The police have already started getting the material for the fence. Not content with this huge security area, the authorities are planning to create a buffer zone around the fence. It will be forbidden to even approach the fence. The authorities have demanded that the 7,500 residents of the area register themselves in order to get a pass allowing them to enter the security area during the summit. A thousand workers will also require a pass . . . Residents will not be allowed to have visitors during that period. There will be between 5,000 and 8,000 police officers, including about 800 anti-riot police officers in $5,000 protective suits . . . The RCMP has already rented all the available apartments inside the area both to prevent 'terrorists' from staying inside the security area before and during the summit and also to house their officers . . . The authorities plan to compensate the businesses inside the security area for their lack of customers during the FTAA meeting . . . The authorities will empty 600 cells in the nearby Orsainville prison (30 min. north of Quebec City) in order to jail the protesters . . . Hospitals will also be emptied before the summit . . . About 9,000 of the 10,500 government employees working in the security area will have a paid holiday on Friday April 20th The cost of the security operation could reach 70 million Canadian dollars. A few schools will be closed around the security area (Le Soleil, February 8, 2001). The Summit of the Americas has reserved most hotel rooms around Quebec City. In certain cases they even canceled the reservations made and paid by. - It could be disinformation, but the mainstream newspaper Le Soleil reported that cell phones may be unusable during the meeting because the communication system will probably be overwhelmed.

R2KPHILLY: Community leader and ACT UP member Kate Sorensen has been acquitted of felony charges stemming from her August 1 arrest at the Republican National Convention. Following a three-day jury trial, Sorensen was found not guilty of the felonies of which she was accused, including riot, risking a catastrophe, and conspiracy. She was found guilty of one misdemeanor, criminal mischief . . . Sorensen was the first felony defendant to go to trial out of over 300 people facing charges related to the protests during the RNC. Singled out as a "ringleader" by law enforcement and held for ten days in prison, Sorensen was originally charged with ten felonies and ten misdemeanors . . . After being followed by the police for two hours on August 1, Sorensen was arrested while walking through Love Park talking on a cell phone. Evidence turned over by the prosecution showed that the FBI had been following Sorensen since April 2000. In the week before trial, the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections showed up at Sorensen's house three times . . . MATTHEW BERGHS, a 19-year old activist from Bloomington, Indiana, has been cleared of all charges by a jury despite testimony by Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney. Berghs was charged with aggravated assault and three misdemeanors. Berghs, who describes himself as a pacifist, was charged with aggravated assault, a felony, and misdemeanors simple assault, obstruction of justice, and recklessly endangering another person. He was held in jail for three days on $50,000 bail. It was revealed during the two-day trial that Matthew Berghs had been the victim of police brutality. Nolan showed the jury photographs of five-day old bruises and scrapes that showed Berghs had been beaten by police officers. Both the arresting officer and Commissioner Timoney denied there was violence during the arrest . . . Timoney testified under oath on behalf of officer Donahue, claiming he witnessed the entire incident, but he was unable to convince the twelve-person jury that Berghs was guilty of anything. Berghs and witnesses for the defense testified that officers were acting violently in Center City that day. Berghs testified that he was apprehended from behind with an officer's billy club, and he was hit several times about the head, upper body, and legs. He was then thrown to the ground and sustained multiple injuries, some of which still afflict him . . . There are nine RNC felony defendants still awaiting trial.

ANTHONY DePALMA. NY TIMES: Their meetings are secret. Their members are generally unknown. The decisions they reach need not be fully disclosed. Yet the way a small group of international tribunals handles disputes between investors and foreign governments has led to national laws being revoked, justice systems questioned and environmental regulations challenged. And it is all in the name of protecting the rights of foreign investors under the North American Free Trade Agreement. The corporations - American, Canadian and Mexican alike - that directly invest in neighboring countries are thrilled that NAFTA provides some protection. But foes of the trade pact say some of their worst fears about anonymous government have become reality. And as Western economies move toward more free trade and globalization, environmentalists, consumer groups and anti-trade organizations are increasingly worried about how the tribunals influence the enforcement of laws.

RICHARD NORTON-TAYLOR GUARDIAN: Trade in torture weapons, including high-tech electro-shock weapons, leg irons, serrated thumb cuffs, and stun belts prisoners are forced to wear, is increasing worldwide, Amnesty International says in a report The report coincides with a separate study showing that NATO governments are investing in new weapons that are potentially as lethal as anti-personnel mines banned by the Ottawa treaty. The human rights group says that the number of countries producing electro-shock equipment has grown from around 30 in the 1980s to more than 130 now. Some batons, which it calls the favored tool of the modern torturer, even bear the "EC" standard marking approved by the European Union. Though it is illegal in America to own some of the equipment, the US commerce department has granted sales valued at $97 million since 1997 under the category of "crime-control equipment". Recipients include Saudi Arabia, Russia, Taiwan, Israel, and Egypt, says Amnesty

MARTIN CRUTSINGER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: [There was] a trade deficit with Mexico through November of $23 billion last year, compared with a small trade surplus of $1.7 billion in 1993 before NAFTA took effect . . . "NAFTA has definitely been a failure," said Thea Lee, assistant policy director for the AFL-CIO. "We have seen American employers use the threat of moving production to Mexico to break unions, to ratchet down wages and to take away benefits. That is exactly what we had feared."

GLOBALIZING RESISTANCE

GEORGE MONBIOT, GUARDIAN: A composite radical opposition movement is beginning to emerge. It's confused, it's contradictory and it looks like nothing we've ever seen before. But for the first time in 14 years of campaigning, I feel that I've witnessed something unstoppable. I've spent this week touring [Britain] with a ragged coalition of greens, anarchists and socialists. Everywhere we've been so far, I've picked up a sense of excitement I've never felt in Britain before. In Glasgow we drew 500 people: according to the locals I met it was the biggest political meeting in the city for 15 years. In London, 1,300 turned up.

But the numbers, unprecedented though they may be, are less impressive than the unity of purpose. In London, green activists stood and cheered an RMT official as he left the stage to join the Tube strike. In Coventry, car workers demanded an end to global warming .

INDEPENDENT, LONDON: The head of the World Trade Organization, Mike Moore, lambasted anti-globalization protesters, saying that they made him want to be sick. A new global free trade round was a moral imperative in the face of an impending slowdown in America, Mr. Moore said. "The people that stand outside and say they work in the interests of the poorest people ... they make me want to vomit. Because the poorest people on our planet, they are the ones that need us the most," he said on a visit to the Australian capital to promote the need for a new round of free trade negotiations.

TONY JUNIPER & HILARY WAINWRIGHT, GUARDIAN, LONDON: These architects of globalization [at Davos]were clearly worried, not so much by the protesters in the street, but the new ideas emerging from dozens of citizens' movements from all over the world. The comfort once found in the old ideas is crumbling, and their rhetoric of growth, markets, liberalization and competition - still reassuringly exchanged between the executives and leading public figures - was different from previous years.

There was a sense that globalization is in trouble, and the "board of directors" was neither asking the right questions nor had a clue what to do. How are the ecological limits of a finite planet to be respected in the face of policies designed to promote never-ending growth? How is the widening gap between rich and poor to be closed when many of the signals that companies respond to are designed to reward greed? How can the needs of the 10bn people who may inhabit this world in 2050 be met without drastic changes to consumption patterns?

These and other critical questions were not on the Davos agenda. Only Public Eye, a non-governmental group not invited to participate in the main meeting, had any answers. It hired an asthma clinic and staged debates on trade liberalization, corporate control and financial policy. Its panels and workshops were open, and the clear message was that an alternative economics is crystallizing from global NGO networking . . .

At Porto Alegre the reality of how most of the world must live was presented with angry passion by the very people who are suffering. Trevor Inguane, part of the South African delegation, reinforced a constant theme of the conference: that the levels of inequality and injustice are continuing to rise, and it has to stop. He gave the latest United Nations figures. The 20% of people at the top end of the global income scale earn 86 times more than the 20% at the lower end. In 1997 the figure was 74; in the 1960s it was 30. Similarly shocking figures on trade were presented. As forecast, world trade has expanded rapidly: it is 17 times greater than 50 years ago. But over that period Latin America's share of world trade has fallen from 11% to 5% and Africa's from 8% to 2%. No wonder there was such contempt in the workshops and plenaries of the Social Forum for the mantras coming from Davos that economic growth will eliminate poverty.

George Monbiot, GUARDIAN, LONDON: I'm beginning to feel unwelcome. On Monday a letter in the Guardian revealed that staff from the Bookmarks book shop trying to reach the World Economic Forum were refused entry to Switzerland. Their offense? Carrying copies of my book, Captive State, and Naomi Klein's book, No Logo, which were deemed too dangerous to be allowed into the country at such a sensitive time. Now I discover that, alongside such threats to civilization as the World Development Movement, Jubilee Plus, Friends of the Earth and the human rights lawyer Louise Christian, my presence has become a "security risk", which major venues around the country have been asked to forestall. On Friday, a speaking tour called Globules Resistance begins in Glasgow. Organized by greens, socialists and student activists, it brings together liberal and radical critics of globalization. It involves no demonstrations, no rallies, no riots: it is simply a series of conferences. Yet almost everywhere we're going, people have called for the tour to be restricted or banned.

On Friday, the Scottish Conservative party asked the Home Office to review its decision to grant a visa to a speaker from the US. The SNP warned that our conference in Glasgow "must be closely monitored". In Manchester, we were booked to speak at the university. A few weeks ago, it canceled the booking. Having spoken to the police, it had decided that we were "a potential security risk". So the organizers hired a hall in the Co-op's headquarters instead. A fortnight ago, the security company running the hall annulled the contract on the advice of the police. After some discussion, the firm, to its credit, reversed its decision.

The tour's organizers encountered similar problems when they tried to hire a venue in London. They had agreed a price with Imperial College, but it backed away just as the contract was about to be signed. So instead they booked the conference facilities at Goldsmiths College, whose principal is the Labour historian Ben Pimlott. On January 22, Goldsmiths wrote to confirm a booking for 1,000 guests. Soon afterwards, the college pulled out . . .

So what on earth is going on? Nobody knows, but when the Socialist Alliance, which is one of the groups involved in the current tour, booked rooms from Brighton and Hove Council for a meeting coinciding with the Labour party conference last September, the council tried to cancel on the grounds that it would "offend our major customer," namely the Labour party. It backed down only when the press began phoning .

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE: French labor unionist Jose Bove received the adulation of thousands of participants at an international anti-globalization forum here Tuesday after Brazilian police ordered him expelled from the country for joining a raid on an agricultural research facility near here. Federal police late Monday gave Bove -- an international media sensation following demonstrations against McDonald's fast food restaurants in France -- 24 hours to leave the country for joining an invasion of the plantations run by US biotechnology firm Monsanto. However, a judge Tuesday overturned the police order and allowed Bove to remain in the country until his scheduled departure Wednesday. Police said Bove's activities in Porto Alegre were incompatible with his presence in Brazil on a tourist visa. About 1,300 Brazilian farmers, led by Bove and Landless Workers Movement head Joao Pedro Stedile, ravaged the 988-acre Monsanto research facility at Nao-Me-Toque on Friday, uprooting genetically-modified corn and soybean plants, burning seed and destroying documents in the company's offices.

LARRY ELLIOTT, GUARDIAN, LONDON: The World Bank is an institution in crisis with staff living "in fear" of the organization's autocratic boss, James Wolfensohn, according to a secret memo seen by the Guardian . . . Mr. Wolfensohn went to the bank in 1995, determined to reverse its reputation for arrogance and for dictating economic reforms to governments in developing countries as a condition for loans. But the memo accuses the former Wall Street banker of being "isolated from reality", intolerant of dissent, and quick to humiliate senior managers in front of outsiders. "The atmosphere of fear that pervades the bank is based on numerous day-to-day experiences of staff and managers in their interaction with Mr. Wolfensohn," it says. "He does not practice the values and behaviors he espouses for the rest of us." GUARDIAN

REUTERS: More than a thousand poor Brazilian farmers, joined by activists attending an anti-World Economic Forum summit, stormed a biotech plant owned by US life sciences giant Monsanto, threatening to camp out indefinitely to protest genetically modified food . . . Militant farmers from around the globe who are in Brazil for the World Social Forum, a rival meeting to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, joined the protesters.

HELENE COOPER, WALL STREET JOURNAL: The World Trade Organization finally has found a country willing to host its next big meeting: Qatar. The WTO formally accepted Qatar's offer to host the follow-up to the 1999 Seattle meeting. WTO Director-General Michael Moore said the event, which may launch a round of trade talks, will be held in Doha, Qatar's capital, Nov. 5-9 . . . Last time, the WTO's big meeting blew up in spectacular fashion, as Seattle police in riot gear fired rubber bullets and canisters of tear gas at protesters. Some 30,000 free-trade foes closed down the meetings for a day, forcing the mayor to declare martial law for almost a week . . . After that experience, other countries haven't been lining up to host the next meeting. Indeed, WTO officials at first spurned Qatar's offer, saying the tiny Persian Gulf emirate didn't have enough hotel rooms. But with no other viable alternatives, trade officials worked out a compromise: Delegates will stay on cruise ships in the harbor. Trade officials say Qatar has promised to allow all WTO critics who so desire to attend. The free-trade foes who disrupted the Seattle meeting were openly skeptical, however, pointing to Qatar's less-than-democratic record. Its people don't vote, and the same family has ruled the emirate since World War I.

ADB WATCH HAWAII: According to the Honolulu Advertiser, all of Honolulu's 1800 police officers are receiving special training in "handling civil disturbances, dealing with crowds and other situations" to prepare for the Asian Development Bank convention, and the HPD has requested "special equipment" costing several million dollars. KITV ran a special report beginning with an intimidating line of HPD officers loaded down with special equipment to "deal with ADB protesters." They reported that the HPD, firefighters, National Guard, and Sheriff's Department were coordinating their training efforts and even staged a "demonstration" at a special police training ground showing a few demonstrators throwing water balloons and then being shot with "non-lethal" weapons. New laws are being adopted. Intimidating "news reports" are being aired. Articles in the newspapers boast about the acquisition of new equipment "prepare for the protesters." And youth are already being interrogated by police detectives about their affiliations and plans.

THE REPUBLIC OF WAL-MART

The latest comparison of multinational sales vs. national GDP finds General Motors inching up from 26th in the world's economies in 1995 to 23rd in 1999. It is now the largest corporation in the world, up from 4th place in 1995. Wal-Mart, which didn't even make the top 100 list in 1991 and was the 12th largest corporation in 1995, is now number two corporation in the world and the 25th largest economy. According to Institute for Policy Studies, Exxon Mobil, Ford and Daimler Chrysler follow. In 1991, Japan had an economy less than half the size of the US GDP. By 1995, it was up to two-thirds as large, but according to the latest calculation is now back to only half as great. Other findings:

- Corporations still make up just over half of the world's 100 largest economies.
- The top 200 corporations' sales are growing at a faster rate than overall global economic activity.
- The top 200s' combined sales are 18 times the size of the combined annual income of the 1.2 billion people living in "severe" poverty.
- While the sales of the Top 200 are the equivalent of 27.5 percent of world economic activity, they employ only 0.78 percent of the world's workforce.
- Between 1983 and 1999, the profits of the top 200 firms grew 362.4 percent, while the number of people they employ grew by only 14.4 percent.
- A full 5 percent of the top 200s' combined workforce is employed by Wal-Mart, a company notorious for union-busting and widespread use of part-time workers to avoid paying benefits. The discount retail giant is the top private employer in the world, with 1,140,000 workers - more than twice as many as No. 2, DaimlerChrysler, which employs 466,938.
- US corporations dominate the top 200, with 82 slots (41 percent of the total). Japanese firms are second, with only 41 slots.

LIST OF TOP 50 ECONOMIES

1 United States  2 Japan   3 Germany  4 France  5 United Kingdom  6 Italy  7 China  8 Brazil
9 Canada  10 Spain  11 Mexico  12 India  13 Korea  14 Australia   15 Netherlands  16 Russian Federation  17 Argentina  18 Switzerland   19 Belgium  20 Sweden  21 Austria  22 Turkey
23 General Motors  24 Denmark  25 Wal-Mart  26 Exxon Mobil  27 Ford Motor  28 Daimler Chrysler  29 Poland  30 Norway  31 Indonesia   32 South Africa  33 Saudi Arabia  34 Finland
35 Greece  36 Thailand  37 Mitsui  38 Mitsubishi  39 Toyota Motor   40 General Electric
41 Itochu  42 Portugal  43 Royal Dutch/Shell  44 Venezuela  45 Iran   46 Israel  47 Sumitomo
48 Nippon Tel & Tel  49 Egypt  50 Marubeni

BILL BERKOWITZ, IN THESE TIMES: In response to the anti-globalization movement's numbers and vigilance, multinational companies and right-wing think tanks are beginning to take aim at the protesters. According to a document obtained by the newsletter Inside EPA, the Sony Corporation has been preparing an "action plan for counteracting the efforts of several domestic and international environmental groups--including Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition." . . . Sony's strategic suggestions included "pre-funding intervention" to reduce the financial support that liberal foundations give to environmental organizations; a recommendation that companies ratchet up their capability to quickly respond to environmental critics and pre-empt future legislation; and the development of a "detailed monitoring and contact network" to keep tabs on these organizations. Inside EPA suggests that this monitoring might be carried out by "one of the dozens of new Internet 'intelligence' agencies--such as the London-based Infonics - that monitor chat rooms, e-mail lists, electronic bulletin boards, online news services, news groups and other sources of public information for specific data requested by a company or industry group" . . . Sony's interest in "pre-funding intervention" dovetails with the publication of "Who Props Up the Protesters," an extensive report from Truth About Trade, a new organization that purports to "tell the truth" about the organizations active in the Seattle demonstrations and the foundations that fund them. IN

The Washington Post buried this story on page 46. After brief mention of the protests, the paper wrote,

"Street protests of this type have become commonplace at high-level international gatherings around in the world."

THIS IS LONDON: Riot police fought pitched battles with thousands of protesters as the opening of the EU summit in Nice descended into chaos. Clouds of tear gas billowed outside the conference center in the South of France as the 15 heads of state and government met leaders of applicant countries wanting full EU status. At one stage French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin were victims of the gas - suffering red eyes and coughing - as it was sent into the hall by the air-conditioning. What the French had hoped would be a dignified summit, ending with a historic treaty, descended into running battles between a reported 50,000 anti-globalization demonstrators and police. The protesters - thought to include Basque and Corsican separatists - hurled petrol bombs, fireworks, rocks and furniture at the police, who responded with volleys of tear gas grenades and stun grenades . . . They set fire to a branch of the Banque Nationale de Paris a block away from the conference center and pelted fire crews with stones before being driven back by the gas and grenades. There was alarm in diplomatic circles that the demonstrators had come within 200 yards of the main conference venue. Officials waiting outside the Acropolis Center at times had to cover their faces against the effects of the tear gas. From behind the police lines, several CRS riot officers could be seen leading apparently injured colleagues to safety.

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Prosecutors had him jailed under $1 million bail and described him in court as the protest ringleader who sowed "violence and mayhem" on Philadelphia streets during the Republican National Convention. Yesterday, the District Attorney's Office dropped all charges against John Sellers, 34, a California activist who has emerged as a prominent figure in the new anti-corporate movement . . . There was no evidence against him, a prosecutor told a judge yesterday. Ever since Sellers and several other high-profile activists were swept off the street and held on high bails, protesters have contended that the real goal of the police was to put suspected leaders out of action until the convention was over. Yesterday's court proceeding, they said, backs up their claim . . . While the prosecutors abandoned their case against Sellers, they did win a second protest-related case. Terrence McGuckin, 19, of West Philadelphia, also identified by prosecutors as a demonstration leader, was convicted of disorderly conduct and obstructing the highway

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