20. Larry Weiss, coordinator of the Labor, Globalization and Human Rights Project at the Minneapolis-based Resource Center of the Americas.

In November 2000, Larry responded to Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura's trip to Mexico. He noted that the governor had declined an invitation from Mexican grassroots groups to see the other side of free trade: "They wanted him to know about the great majority of Mexicans whose lives are worse since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) began in 1994.

"Instead," notes Larry, "Ventura opted to hear only U.S. and Mexican business and government officials . . . Had [he] listened to ordinary Mexicans, he might not have claimed that NAFTA has been good for everyone. This assertion is at best debatable regarding the United States, where NAFTA has cost more than 650,000 manufacturing jobs and negatively impacted wages and workers' rights. It is absurd regarding Mexico.

"For more than three-quarters of Mexicans, living standards today are sharply lower than they were in 1993. For those formally employed, real wages are 25% below pre-NAFTA levels. In NAFTA's nearly seven years, the number of Mexicans living in extreme poverty, those living on less that $2 per day, has risen from 26 million to 40 million.

" . . . You can look at the global economy from the top down, from the viewpoint of those at the top of the economic pyramid, as the governor chose to do when he visited Mexico. You can also look at it from the bottom up, from the way it affects the great majority of folks. It is a very different eyeful."

Off-site Link: Resource Center of the Americas.

21. Ernesto Martinez of Minneapolis protests the "Mexico Comes to Minnesota" seminar held at the Minneapolis Convention Center, June 9, 2000.

Billed by its corporate organizers as a "celebration" of the "success" of the Mexican economy under NAFTA, the seminar impelled the Labor, Globalization and Human Rights Project of the Resource Center of the Americas to stage a protest and offer an alternative and more realistic view of life in Mexico under NAFTA.

Since 1994 when NAFTA took effect, the living standard (purchasing power) of nearly all Mexicans has fallen by 20-30%. Furthermore, the number of sweatshops (maquiladoras), mainly US-owned, has doubted.

Under deplorable conditions, the workers of these maquiladoras produce goods for the US market at very high levels of quality and productivity, generating enormous profits for the companies. Yet US corporations and the Mexican government ensure that these workers are paid barely enough to survive, are subjected to unsafe and humiliating conditions, and are denied any right to improve their situation. Says Larry Weiss of the Resource Center of the Americas: "This is essential slavery, perpetuated for corporate profit. Why is it being celebrated?"

22-23. The Kalpulli Ketzal Koatlikue Mexica Dancers - June 9, 2000.

Performers of traditional Chichimeca/Aztec dance and music, the Kalpulli Ketzal Koatlikue Dancers bring their unique and creative contributions not only to various events that seek to protect and strengthen the rights of immigrants, but other progressive causes.

The troupe is a collective of Mexican-American (Chicano/as) and Mexican Natives brought together by the desire to learn and share the traditional culture of ancient Mexico. They are a grass-roots group engaged in leadership development through the learning and teaching of history, music, and dance. Their dances display the history of the indigenous people known as the Chichimeca (or Aztec) and the relationship between the human race and the universe. Each dance tells a story of balance between dual forces seeking the harmony needed to sustain life. At events, they provide commentary on the historical and contemporary struggles depicted through ceremonial dances.

Lending their drumming, dancing, energy, and support to the community at celebrations, demonstrations (even seen dancing barefoot on snowy pavement!), freedom walks, and other events, the dancers have become a pillar of the progressive movement throughout Minnesota.

The dancers are led by National Lawyers Guild immigration lawyer Susana de Leon (image 23). She is a recognized leader and frequent speaker on issues of immigrant rights, educational rights, and police abuse of authority. She has worked with a number of community organizers, including ISAIAH (a faith based pro-immigrant group) the Local Impacts Working Group (which passed resolutions in St. Paul and Minneapolis barring police questioning about immigration status), Women of the Red River Valley, Immigrant Women Coalition Against Violence, Peacemaker Center, La Raza Student Cultural Center, and the Minnesota Human Rights Center.

24. The writings of Susan George, along with those of Vandana Shiva, David Korten, and Naomi Klein, have been instrumental in helping me understand the meaning and ramifications of "neo-liberalism" - along with both reasons and strategies for resisting it.

As she explains in her book, Another World Is Possible If . . ., "neo-liberalism is an economic doctrine . . . based on open competitive markets and the 'price mechanism,' meaning that prices must be determined by supply and demand, not by government intervention or subsidies. Neo-liberals are against most state interventions in the economy, they are pro-free trade and anti-trade unions. They see the array of social protections afforded by the welfare state as nothing but state-organized theft and consequently they want to reduce taxes.

"One of their number in the US is Grover Norquist. He heads the organization Americans for Tax Reform and says, 'We want to get government down to the size where you can drown it in the bathtub.' Except, of course, for the military . . .

"Strict neo-liberal doctrine breaks down, however, in certain cases. Free trade is all very well, but, to cite only one example, it's okay to protect American steel producers or farmers with high tariffs or subsidies. Government rules and regulations are unwelcome, except when they are tailor-made for protecting corporate interests; taxes can be a good thing if paid by someone else; and so on.

"Whatever the qualifiers used - corporate-led, finance-driven, or neo-liberal - they all describe world capitalism's most recent phase which it entered roughly around 1980. From the onset, say about 500 years ago, capitalism existed as a global phenomenon. The difference today lies in its scope and the nature of its major actors: giant corporations and mega-financial institutions now have remarkable latitude to set rules that govern everyone, especially because they also frequently control the media. They seek ever greater power to bend national and international policies to fit their needs. . . . Fortunately, both anger and revolt are on the rise."

Off-site Link: Susan George and the Transnational Institute

25. Claus Zimmerman, dressed in a hazardous waste suit, participates in a protest of Rainbow Foods - Minneapolis, June 2000.

This demonstration was the launch of GE Food Alert, an organization whose charter members include the Organic Consumers Association, IATP, PIRGs, National Environmental Trust, Friends of the Earth, and the Center for Food Safety.

Off-site Link: GE Food Alert

26. A young man stands in a downtown Minneapolis street while behind him police officers prepare to move in on a crowd of around 200 activists who had gathered to protest a meeting of the International Society of Animal Genetics (ISAG) - July 24, 2000.

The confrontation between police and demonstrators turned ugly a short time later when police cornered a group of protesters--causing some to attempt to break through the police line. Pepper spray was used excessively, bystanders were injured, and over eighty activists were arrested.

Commenting on the events of July 24, longtime resident Mark Perron wrote in Pulse: "Police activity surrounding the animal rights protesters has made me embarrassed to be a citizen of Minneapolis . . . I was literally sick to my stomach watching the footage of the clash between police and protesters near the entrance to Loring Park . . . Police were racing to catch up with protesters so they could spray their faces with pepper spray. It certainly wasn't defensive spraying . . . Watching the police swing their riot sticks was particularly eerie. For all their numbers, the police looked to have lost control . . . Why the protesters were not let back into Loring Park is a mystery and seems to have been the catalytic moment when all hell broke loose . . .

"Things have gone a little crazy around here lately. No one in power in this town seems able to accept criticism, blame, accountability or responsibility for wrongheaded behavior . . . The animal rights debacle is only the very latest in a string of disturbing activities planned and carried out by our local heads of government and the Minneapolis police. It it too much to ask for or to hope that police activities in the future be carried out when necessary in a way in which we can all be proud?"

A few weeks later, Andy Driscoll, a former St. Paul charter commission and human rights commission member, raised some important questions in the press after talking with a friend in the police department: "If there were forty undercover cops, just how many demonstrators were there? [Plain clothes police] could have comprised a quarter to a third of the supposed protesters."

Driscoll also reflected on the violence that occurred near Loring Park and questioned if it was a "setup" in which police "sent in their own people undercover to make sure the situation got out of hand, so they could claim credit for dispersing the crowd."

A total of 750 law enforcement officers were assigned to police demonstrations over the six days of the genetics conference, including 400-500 Minneapolis police officers. Hennepin and Ramsey counties and the state supplied the rest. The area of downtown Minneapolis surrounding the hotel where the conference took place, resembled an armed camp. Total cost for equipment and personnel amounted to one million dollars.

27-29. Citizens concerned about escalating police violence gathered in the Uptown area of Minneapolis for a "Rally Against State-Sanctioned Violence" on Saturday, July 29, 2000. Among those gathered was a young activist by the name of Tumbleweed (center).

At around the same time as this rally, resident Cam Gordon had an article published in the Minneapolis independent newspaper, Siren, in which he reflected upon the recent ISAG debacle: "I am sure that some police acted with restrait and compassion, but it is clear that others did not . . . Innocent people were stopped and searched, others were hit for no reason, and still others were gassed or sprayed and taken into custody.

"Among the most disturbing police actions was the violent raid on Sister's Camelot, an organization that provides free organic food to low-income people. While a great deal of expense and effort went into helping one group--ISAG--exercise its right to free speech, much effort went into insuring that other groups--those opposed to or concerned about new uses of animal genetic biotechnology--could not . . . It is time to conduct a full review and reform of policing in Minneapolis. We need to understand and improve all areas of policing from recruitment to training, evaluation, supervision, and accountability . . . Our goal ought to be building safe and nonviolent communities based on respect, trust, and tolerance, not fear and intimidation. We need a community-based and community-oriented approach where citizens and police work together to make safer neighborhoods . . ."

At around 11:00 p.m. on July 24, Minneapolis police and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents used a no-knock warrant to raid the Sister's Camelot house in South Minneapolis. In their article, "A Night of Police Terror in Minneapolis" (Pulse 8.2.00), Frank Fuller and Jeremy Stolen write: "There were about ten people in the house at the time and most had been watching news coverage of the day's protests against the conference of the International Society for Animal Genetics [ISAG]. Police officers ordered everyone to 'get down on the floor and put your hands behind your head.' Hoods were then placed over [the] heads [of those lying on the floor]. The police said this was done in order to hide the identities of several undercover officers involved in the raid, [despite the fact that these same officers] were wearing ski masks when they entered the house. Those in the house were taken individually to the bathroom to be searched. At least two people were beaten while they were on the floor. [Well known community and environmental activist] Robert Czernik, who goes by the name of Tumbleweed, says that he was kicked in the face a number of times by a DEA agent as he was on the floor. He was taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center to be treated and then taken to jail. He received stitches and his [right] eye was swollen shut for at least 24 hours . . . [Tumbleweed] was charged with fifth degree narcotics possession. He would not comment on the charges, except to say, "You could probably raid 90 percent of the homes in the city and find something illegal." The police also confiscated a number of records, computer files, and papers belonging to Sister's Camelot and a bus belonging to Coldwater Cafe, which provides free food to the general public and protesters . . . Everyone else in the house was arrested and charged with being in a disorderly house."

The August 9 edition of Siren, noted Tumbleweed's belief that the bust, though under the pretext of a drug raid, was overtly political. He believes that police cracked down on Sister's Camelot because the goup helped organize ISAG protests and hosted out-of-town demonstrations. "I think we were targeted because we were visibly organizing," Tumbleweed said.

At the July 29 Rally Against State-Sanction Violence, community activist Michelle Gross noted that "Under the phoney veneer of 'preventing violence,' the police perpetrated brazen acts of terror against unarmed, nonviolent protesters, designed to deprive them wholesale of their First Amendment rights. The message is that only certain sentiments can be raised, only certain questions can be asked. If people think that this kind of brutality is reserved for 'those' kind of people, 'those' protesters, they had better think again."

Referring to the events of July 24, Gross noted that "Police spent weeks building up fear about [the ISAG] protests. They crafted a bogus story about cyanide poisoning to marginalize protesters and justify brutality against them. Whatever the source of state-sanctioned violence, at home or abroad, the goal is repression of individuals or groups and ultimately the repression of dissent."

30. Brian McNeill protests the Target corporation's selling of garments made in the Mil Coloes sweatshop in Nicaragua - September 2000.

At the Mil Coloes sweatshop the workforce, consisting mainly of young women, is forced to endure starvation wages, long hours of work, excessively high production quotas, filthy bathrooms, healthcare cheating, and mass firings and union busting.