Jump to full article: Palm Beach (FL) Post, 2003-11-19
Author: John Pacenti, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Intro: By the time the first organized demonstration wandered Tuesday into downtown Miami, police were more than ready to deflate it.
A ragtag group of demonstrators intent on protesting the easing of tobacco tariffs at the Free Trade of the Americas conference found themselves under the gaze of a hovering police helicopter. They had brought with them a large inflatable cigarette pack, but authorities quickly took exception to the gasoline-powered generator the protesters wanted to use.
So they were reduced to having a mock "die-in" around their deflated giant pack of Marlboros in front of the Torch of Friendship -- a stone's throw from where ministers from 34 countries are meeting this week to talk about erasing of trade barriers in the hemisphere.
"We're concerned about delivering our message," said Robert Weissman, co-director of the anti-smoking group Essential Action.
Miami has been transformed into an armed camp of police of just about every ilk in an effort to avoid violence that has marred other trade summits elsewhere.
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