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As students and their allies across Canada participated in a day of action to protest the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), more than 10,000 protested in Quito, Ecuador, outside a meeting of trade ministers from throughout the hemisphere.

Police responded with violence, injuring a number of the workers, farmers and students who had gathered to voice their opposition to the FTAA.

“Once again, we see that ‘free trade’ means repression and the violation of human rights,” said protest leader Cesar Cabrera. “But our victory today has been important: millions of people have found out about the impacts of the FTAA. We have demonstrated that the peoples of the hemisphere completely reject this proposal.”

“Governments should not only respect our right to protest, but they should listen to us,” said Jos 0045ncalada, a farmers’ union leader. “We want an alternative form of integration, based in the principles of reciprocity, justice, and respect for cultural and environmental diversity.”