AFTERMATH

Our job was to disrupt the Summit, and we failed. We pushed back the opening ceremony for about two hours...

463 protesters, including Jaggi Singh, plus the members of Germinal were arreted during the protests.

By now, all protesters have been released, with a bail of about 500%... Singh's bail was of 3000$ and he was released 17 days after his arrest. Among the conditions of release are that he may no longer stage protests, or participate in staging them an thhat he no longer has the right to carry a microphone. Among the charges he has faced is "possession of a potentially lethal weapon", wich launched teddy bears, and that belonged to the DIST, wich had nothing to do with Singh or the ACC...

The members of Germinal were released after over 40 days in jail, and are being scapegoated as a terrorist organization, wich gives the state a good excuse for having taken all these repressive security measures.

Numerous members of various Black Bloc cells have been arrested and released a few days afterwards. The medias blame the Black Bloc for the riot that occured during the protests. For the moment, its members are keeping a low profile.

Serge Ménard, Defense Minister of Québec, congratulated the work of his officers, saying that they acted tactfully and calmly under the stress of being hurled rock at ( under their 5000$ protective suits and arsenal) and being called names.

The League of Fundamental Human rights wanted to bring the RCMP and the law enforcement officers to court for having sent approximatively 5000 tear gas cans over the course of these three days. The use of plastic bullets as a potentially lethal weapon was a subjectthat they also wanted to discuss, along with the bad treatment of the prisonners.

Their demand for a court appeal was denied...

The FTAA's accords have been signed and discussed, and it should be taking effect in january 2005.

The next Summit of Americas will be held in 2003, in Argentina...

As for the protest movements, some say that Quebec was a victory for us because the only victory we could have won was a symbollic one, and that we did do it. That the events of Quebec have made a spark in people's hearts on why we are doing all this all. I'm not sure if I'm as optimistic.. .Yes, those of us who were there will remember this for as long as we'll live, quite a few of us will be in the front lines next time around, but everything is against us here. We won a major victory in Seattle in 1999 by blocking the WTO meeting, but the cops have since adapted their tactics. This time around they were one step ahead of us.

One way or another, wether I have doubts about our victory in Quebec or not, I have no doubts whatsoever that the FTAA must be stopped, and we have till 2005 to make sure that it does fall...

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