Contrary to the alarmist rhetoric that is now ricocheting around South Florida, Mongol hordes are not coming to Miami in November with pillage on their minds.
Americans are coming to Miami in November. Americans who have deep concerns about the public, economic and trade policies that our government has chosen to support, and how those polices impact on both our fellow citizens and on the citizens of the countries that make up the Western Hemisphere.
They are coming because they believe that issues they are concerned about have been largely ignored, and that when the initial decisions that led to the formulation of those free trade policies were crafted, their representatives and their concerns were purposely excluded from the process.
Cause for concern
In a similar vein, Miamians should be concerned about how the decisions leading to the choice of Miami as the site for the upcoming Ministerial meeting of the Free Trade Area of the Americas were made, and far more importantly, how it was decided that Miami should vie to become the site of the FTAA's headquarters.
Both of these decisions were made months, or even years ago, and were made without any significant public debate or participation. Now, in the last few weeks many Miamians find themselves confused, ill-informed, and either alarmed or angered over a controversial new ordinance which raises serious questions as to whether this city is prepared to set aside not only protections guaranteed by the First Amendment, but basic common sense.
We now find ourselves being threatened with almost apocalyptic doom if supporters of bringing the FTAA headquarters to Miami don't succeed.
''If we don't get it, it's the end of an era,'' Mark Rosenberg, provost of FIU, was quoted as saying in The Miami Herald two Sundays ago, about the efforts to make Miami the headquarters site of the FTAA.
On the basis of this kind of reasoning the political leadership of this city is not only considering abandoning the protections of the First Amendment, but has also made the Miami Police Department's already difficult job of protecting public safety and themselves during the upcoming protests even more difficult. The police are now being expected to act as sanitizers of the city's image for those who staked Miami's future on securing the FTAA headquarters in this city.
Misinformation
It is not only a thankless task, but colors in a myriad of ways the decisions and tactics that the police might use, which in turn will result in how the protesters respond. One consequence has been the largely one-sided way in which the news media has chosen so far to report and inform this community on the issues of the FTAA and free trade, and its impact, both on our country and our neighbors to the south.
Additionally, no one in civic or political circles has addressed the fact that if Miami does become the FTAA headquarters we can expect to become a permanent stop on the globalization protest circuit. Besides the costs and inconvenience associated with preparing and hosting these events, Miamians can expect one additional cost that no one can yet calculate: the cost of litigation.
Every American city that has hosted a major protest since the WTO protests in Seattle is as of today still engaged in litigation brought on by the protesters against the police and/or the city for incidents that occurred during these events. .
Consider protesters
The issues surrounding free trade are of critical importance to all of our futures. The concerns that bring protesters to Miami deserve to be considered on their merits, even if it results in some inconveniences for everyone. For them, and for this community, a failure to allow that to happen without chaos from either disruptive protesters or unwarranted provocations by police could also result in the end of an era. Many should fear losing that far more than losing the FTAA headquarters.
Al Crespo is a Miami photojournalist whose recent book is Protest In The Land Of Plenty: A View Of Democracy From The Streets Of America As We Enter The 21st Century.
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