On November 4, more than 100,000 people converged on the seaside town of Mar del Plata, 400 kilometres south of Buenos Aires, for a protest and counter-summit to the Organization of American States meeting. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez received a huge welcome when he addressed the packed counter-summit. A spokesperson for the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Hebe de Bonafini, spoke of the death of ALCA (the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, FTAA). November 4 was declared a day of strike and protest action across Argentina. In Buenos Aires, simultaneous banner and leaflet drops organised by members of the Argentinian Workers Confederation (CTA) at work sites across the city announced the start of protest action. Protesters marched on the Plaza Congresso from different parts of the city, where a demonstration continued into the evening.

More than 100,000 people also gathered in Caracas on November 4 to march to the National Assembly in solidarity with the counter-summit. The main theme was “Down with Bush and imperialism, no ALCA, long live the people’s alternative: ALBA [the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas]!”

From Green Left Weekly, November 9, 2005.
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