Police State 

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"Mexico's most vulnerable citizens," the report says, "have faced a maelstrom of change beyond their capacity, or that of their government, to control."

Once we arrived in Miami, the big story on local TV news was, of course, not trade policy but the police preparation for violence in the streets. Never mind the schedule of events over and above the inevitable confrontation. Indeed, the entire week was a policy wonk's dream, with workshops and seminars held in hotels, churches and schools all across downtown Miami. Steelworkers sponsored a forum on corporate responsibility. Teamsters led a meeting to discuss how the FTAA would impact a local government's ability to hire hometown companies for projects. Many of the seminars were standing room only. As it turned out, one of the most compelling was sparsely attended. Mark Weisbrot is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC. He spoke on the "false promises of trade," and in 30 minutes effectively cut US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick's free trade arguments off at the knees. "There is no economic argument that can be made that the policies of the last 20 to 25 years have been a success on economic grounds," Weisbrot said. "The people promoting these [trade] agreements are arguing that they're promoting economic growth and when you look at the record, that's exactly where their biggest failure has been."

Weisbrot cited a basic economic yardstick -- income per capita. "For 25 years now in Latin America, there's been very, very little growth. The 1980s is called the lost decade in Latin America because income actually shrank, which is a very rare thing over a 10-year period in the history of capitalism. It almost never happens."

What exacerbated the problem in Central and South America were the harsh fiscal policies pushed on countries during times of economic crisis in the 1990s by the International Monetary Fund, which is basically an arm of the Treasury Department and Wall Street. As Stiglitz told CL recently, the IMF made Latin American countries impose austerity measures in exchange for loans, basically stripping them of sovereignty, and required those countries to keep large cash reserves. That prevented the countries from re-investing wealth in infrastructure or the education of their own people. So it's no surprise that per capita wealth has stagnated.

And things don't appear to be getting any better, Weisbrot said. "The first decade of the 21st century is going to look like another lost decade, just based on the first five years. Because the first five show only 1 percent growth for all five years. That's taking the International Monetary Fund's optimistic projections, which are almost always high. This is an economic disaster. I guarantee you, if the press and everybody who was talking about the FTAA knew this, nobody would assume that the FTAA would bring any benefits to Latin America."

Standing in front of the convergence center on the 2300 block of North Miami Avenue on Wednesday afternoon, it was hard to believe that the $8.5 million in security expenses, the six months of police training, the breathless coverage leading up to the FTAA talks in Miami -- all of that was for a few hundred kids passing around trail mix in what looked like an old machine shop. But according to the police chief, the mayor and the media, not to mention the White House and Congress, there was no more prudent way imaginable to spend $8.5 million.

The front doors to this den of anarchy were blocked off; entrance was through a chain link gate out back. A sentry stood guard, presumably to keep out cops and reporters, but didn't pay much attention to me.

Inside, the mix of humanity was what you might expect -- a few hundred people milling around, mostly white, mostly in their 20s, their bodies in various stages of hygienic decay. A dog snoozed in a corner. Leaflets lay scattered over tables. The air was stifling. Cardboard covered the cinderblock walls -- one sign matched up rides and riders to Ft. Benning for the following weekend's School of the Americas protest; another broke down each day's action plans. A scroll on the wall read, "If your heart is strong, the ground you stand on is liberated." Outside, volunteers served up bowls of rice and vegetables.

When Holland and I arrived, three leaders stood just outside the unisex bathroom, their bodies, like the 50 seated on the cement floor around them, sheened in sweat. The subject was what to do if you're arrested.

The advisers suggested that protesters leave identification behind, and refuse to identify themselves once arrested. "The goal is to provide solidarity."

Later that evening, we turned on the TV news and learned that police had raided an abandoned mansion and arrested a half-dozen anarchists. The police gave the cameras a tour of the booty -- there were bicycle inner tubes (for slingshots, we were told) and a few cans of Sterno. The breathless tone of the news anchor was common; across Miami, reporters were "embedded" with police, and dutifully parroted whatever claptrap the cops told them.