It's as if a hurricane is bearing down on Miami: The cruise ships are pulling out. The federal courts are closing down. And much of downtown's elevated train system will be off limits -- something that only happens when the city braces for gale-force winds.
Weeks before 34 ministers gather for the Free Trade Areas of the Americas Conference, Miami is battening down for a storm of protest.
Security experts have warned the city to expect anarchists with alarming names like the Black Bloc -- and the city is taking extraordinary measures to keep the peace well before the first big protest puppet is seen or an anti-globalization slogan is heard.
The meeting's goal is to establish a tariff-free trade zone from Alaska to Argentina. Critics of such international business agreements say corporations profit from them while workers and the environment suffer.
Police from more than 40 agencies will be in town for the Nov. 20-21 conference. Miami officials hope to arm them with a controversial ordinance aimed at neutralizing troublemakers intent on infiltrating peaceful protests. Civil libertarians say the measures are unconstitutional, and they are threatening a legal battle.
Judges, sea captains to ship out
Tom Cash, an international security consultant based in Miami, said he has faith in Miami's no-nonsense police chief, John Timoney, a veteran of quelling civil disturbances. For starters, look for Timoney to order the removal of any trash bins in the protest area to help thwart street fires. "I don't think you will be able to find anything closely resembling wood anywhere," Cash said.
Of more immediate concern to downtown businesses is the plan to detour traffic from an area covering roughly 50 blocks. A loop of Miami's Metromover over downtown is to be closed during the conference.
"If someone were intent on hurting a police officer, that would be the perfect location to be above a cop's head," said Lt. Bill Schwartz, a spokesman for the Miami police.
In the middle of the protest zone sits the city's federal justice complex and the entrance to the Port of Miami-Dade -- the "Cruise Ship Capital of the World." Judges and sea captains have no plans to stick around.
The Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian cruise lines, many of whose boats normally dock in Miami, have asked Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale to handle those ships during the FTAA conference, port spokeswoman Ellen Kennedy said.
Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer De La Cruz said the line is worried about gridlock caused by all the detours. Still, it is unprecedented, she said.
"I've been with the company for more than 15 years, and I can't recall a situation quite like this where we had to shift multiple vessels for a period to another port," she said. "It's entirely unique."
Fear of violence, not traffic concerns, is what has Chief U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch suspending operations at Miami's federal courthouses for the week of Nov. 17.
"In the past, large-scale demonstrations prompted by meetings of similar organizations have resulted in serious incidents," Zloch wrote in an advisory.
Court hearings normally held in Miami will be held in Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach.
Meanwhile, Miami officials continue to tip-toe along a constitutional tightrope while trying to tighten regulations for demonstrations.
A proposed ordinance that aims to keep protest signs from being used as weapons, among other restrictions, already has been watered down.
Responding to criticism, commissioners dropped a ban on bulletproof vests and gas masks.
The city also included language that appears to make exceptions for the giant street puppets favored by free-trade protesters.
But the American Civil Liberties Union contends the language still is too strict and that the largest caricatures of world leaders remained banned because they must be built with prohibited heavier lumber.
"The issue of the puppets is unresolved," said Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, president of the ACLU's greater Miami chapter. "It depends on what materials is emphasized in the ordinance. This ordinance is still a problem."
Ordinance may affect other events
The street puppets remain a concern, police spokesman Schwartz said. But City Attorney Alejandro Vilarello believes the issue is resolved.
Despite Miami's problems with its ordinance, Boca Raton tried to followed suit and pass a similar law to be put in place for the Republican Governors Association meeting, which takes place days before the FTAA conference. Boca Raton last week watered down its proposal too.
The biggest change Vilarello was forced to make to the Miami ordinance was altering it so it no longer specifically targeted FTAA protests. He said the change was necessary to avoid the law being overturned in court.
So if commissioners give their final approval on Nov. 13, Miami could end up with a law affecting everything from color guards at Veterans Day gatherings to the city's Bahamian Goombay Festival.
Vilarello said an exception probably will be made for the stilts so popular at the Goombay festival. "But they have to be used for walking," he said.
The ACLU's Rodriguez-Taseff said the ordinance remains aimed at FTAA protesters. When the commission gives its approval, she said, the ACLU will weigh its options.
Miami Commissioner Johnny Winton said he doesn't believe the ordinance is permanent. "We can modify it or do away with it," he said. "This is not the end-all."
Winton said he is more concerned about the safety of Miami than about a lawsuit. "I don't give two damns what the ACLU does," he said. The city, he said, has been put in a tricky position because anarchists have been able to disrupt trade talks everywhere else in the world in the past two years.
He blamed the legitimate protesters the ACLU represents.
"They have provided shelter for the bad guys," Winton said. "The peaceful protesters have helped create an environment that has been quite fruitful for the bad guys, and now they don't want us to disturb their right to free speech."
john_pacenti@pbpost.com
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