When I arrived at the center of the massive protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas on Biscayne Boulevard last Thursday, I didn't know what to expect. I was excited to be in the middle of the action, and trying hard to take it all in.
Thousands of union workers, environmental activists and other protesters filled the street. Hundreds of police in riot gear, standing side-by-side, created barricades to the north and south. A tank topped with armed police towered near the entrance to Bayfront Park. A lone protester walked silently in front of the line of police with a handwritten sign: ''Have you read 1984?''
While I was there, the demonstrations were peaceful -- and more surreal, fun and fascinating than photos or TV images conveyed.
Covering both an AFL-CIO Workers Forum on Wednesday and the rally at Bayfront Park Amphitheater was a lesson in seeing an issue through others' eyes.
At the forum, I heard workers from Mexico, Colombia and Nicaragua describe unfair labor conditions. And a former Maytag employee talked about the difficulties he and others in Galesburg, Ill. have endured since the company decided to close a plant there.
Most significantly, all week, everyone I approached -- whether a water quality activist from Wisconsin, a steelworker from Kentucky, an auto assembler from Canada or a family counselor from Ohio -- had a specific, personal reason for coming to Miami to oppose the FTAA.
These people had a cause, a reason to believe as they did, and they were more than willing to express it. Each was different, yet heartfelt. It was my job to make sure readers heard their voices too.
Here's just one example: ''What the FTAA will do is it won't help people in other countries. It will misuse and abuse them and take jobs away from us here,'' said Joy Randolph, a West Virginia steelworker. ''The workers in other countries are not our enemies. We need to bring their standards up instead of lowering ours.''
Ina Paiva Cordle, who covers aviation, was part of a team that covered FTAA activities.
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