CNN
Canada opens doors for discussion of free trade
QUEBEC CITY, Canada (CNN) -- Heavy security mingled with the 17th-century charm of Quebec City on Friday as thousands of protesters and 34 Western Hemisphere leaders converged in Canada for a major trade summit.
High on the summit agenda is a free trade agreement -- vehemently opposed by some who believe it would benefit only multinational corporations.
Leaders of all Western Hemisphere nations except Cuba were expected in the capital of French-speaking Quebec for the three-day Summit of the Americas, first held in Miami, Florida, in 1994.
Departing the White House on his way to Quebec City, U.S. President George W. Bush said that the summit was important for the United States because its future is "closely tied to the future of our hemisphere."
"Together we will put forward an agenda to strengthen our democracies, to tackle common challenges and we will seek to expand our prosperity by expanding trade," he said.
"Open trade in our hemisphere will open new markets ..." he said, "fuel engines of economic growth for new jobs and incomes and apply the power of the markets to the needs of the poor."
Hundreds of demonstrators staged a peaceful protest Thursday night, but Canadian officials were prepared to keep the demonstrations from becoming a repeat of those outside the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, Washington, in 1999.
Protests in Seattle turned violent, with more than 500 people eventually arrested as city officials employed tear gas and a 24-hour curfew to stop the activities.
In Quebec City, authorities circled the summit venue with a 2.3-mile concrete and chain-link fence to keep the demonstrators away from the regional leaders. More than 6,000 specially trained riot police are also on hand.
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, hosting the conference, was the first to arrive. U.S. President George W. Bush was expected to come to Canada in the afternoon for his first international summit since his election.
Bush supports the so-called Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which would lift trade barriers from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. But supporters of the FTAA face opposition not only from the protesters but from more directly influential sources as well.
Some of that opposition comes from the U.S. Congress -- which must give Bush approval if he is to negotiate a trade agreement -- and business leaders in other countries who don't want to be in direct competition with U.S. companies.
CNN Correspondents Lucia Newman and John King contributed to this report.:
