Americas summit 'under control' despite protests

Images of protesters clashing with police in Quebec City, Canada     ON THE NEWS John King: Protests at Summit of the Americas Lucia Newman: Free trade agreement is priority for Summit of Americas

In this story: Free trade zone proposal draws most attention Bush says he'll consider labor, environment pacts Fox: Leaders must address poverty RELATED STORIES, SITES

QUEBEC CITY, Canada (CNN) -- Canada's prime minister called the opening of the Summit of the Americas a "great success" despite sporadic battles between police and anti-globalization protesters.

"We knew that there was going to be some people who were going to try to stop us," Prime Minister Jean Chretien, the summit's host, told reporters Saturday. But he noted that most protesters were peaceful and "everything has been quite under control."

The 34 Western Hemisphere leaders who are gathered in Quebec are spending a large part of their time discussing a proposed free trade pact that would cover the region's 800 million people. Outside, about 30,000 critics of free trade denounced its impact on the environment and labor.

Most demonstrators marched peacefully Saturday afternoon, but police and small groups of protesters clashed at four points along the 2.3-mile (3.7-kilometer) police perimeter set up to keep demonstrators away from leaders attending the summit.

VIDEO CNN's John King reports on day two of the Summit of the Americas Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Police use tear gas and water cannons on protesters outside the Summit of the Americas Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Police turn water cannons on demonstrators outside the Summit of the Americas Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     MESSAGE BOARD Summit of the Americas     BIG PICTURE Hemisphere of influence     GALLERIES Scenes of protest at the Summit of the Americas More images from Quebec City     ALSO

Police used water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets to force protesters back from barricades, periodically shifting their security lines to counter movements by protesters. Some demonstrators threw rocks and at least two Molotov cocktails. Those caught behind police lines were restrained and removed.

"People are really angry about what's going on," one demonstrator told CNN. "They're feeling powerless, and so they're looking for opportunities to join with other people who feel the same way and to do some action and try to get collectively some voice heard within the government."

Officials said 150 people had been arrested over two days of protests, including 50 who were arrested Saturday. A spokeswoman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said 145 people were facing criminal charges for their actions during the demonstrations.

At least 45 protesters went to area hospitals with minor injuries, the spokeswoman said, including reactions to tear gas. She said 34 police officers have been injured, and five of them were taken to a hospital.

Those arrested include one suspect in the beating of a traffic officer Friday. Officials said the officer was beaten with a metal bar and suffered head injuries. At least six suspects disappeared into a crowd after the attack.

Free trade zone proposal draws most attention

Inside the meeting hall, leaders' discussions included strengthening education and democracy and battling drug trafficking and poverty. But plans for a hemisphere-wide free trade zone similar to the North American Free Trade Agreement among Canada, Mexico and the United States drew the most attention.

Chretien said the 34 leaders attending the Summit of the Americas had agreed to a fundamental accord requiring countries to abide by certain democratic principles to participate in the group. The only country in the hemisphere not represented in Quebec City is Cuba, which is still under communist rule.

"From this day forward, the benefits of any agreements we reach will flow only to nations that abide by our democratic clause," Chretien said. He said the Quebec Accord would also apply to the group's banking activities.

The Quebec City gathering is the third such gathering of American leaders. Previous summits were held in Miami, Florida, in 1994 and Santiago, Chile, in 1998.

The demonstrators on the street outside the convention center include a wide variety of leftist, anti- capitalist, labor, human rights and environmental groups, which maintain that free trade and globalization are detrimental to workers and the environment. Because similar protests at previous world trade meetings had turned violent, Canadian officials launched a massive security operation for the summit, bringing in 6,000 officers.

Demonstrations prompted a 90-minute delay in the summit's opening ceremony on Friday.

Bush says he'll consider labor, environment pacts

Critics have called free trade an anti-democratic movement that boosts the influence of corporations over democratic values, but Chretien said the discussions at the Quebec summit have been available to the public.

"We've discussed democracy, we have a clause of democracy," Chretien said. "We've discussed what's needed to help the 800 million people in the hemisphere. We have discussed the environment, we have discussed education, we have discussed health, and all the leaders were very, very happy with what happened."

"The meeting of this afternoon was on television," he said. "The meeting of this morning was televised, and there was involvement of civil society for weeks and months before."

Some leaders have expressed reservations about proceeding with negotiations on the free trade zone unless they can be reassured that U.S. lawmakers won't try to attach their own conditions to agreements once they are reached.

U.S. President George W. Bush, a strong proponent of the trade bloc, reassured other regional leaders that he would push the U.S. Congress to give him so-called "trade promotion authority" by the end of the year, which would give him broad power to negotiate trade agreements without amendments by legislators.

In comments to the assembled leaders, Bush called the summit discussions "a chance of a lifetime." And Bush said he was willing to consider provisions that would protect labor and the environment, but not if they hindered an overall pact.

"I'm here to offer my own ideas. I'm here to learn and to listen from voices to those inside this hall -- and to those outside this hall who want to join us in constructive dialogue," Bush said.

Fox: Leaders must address poverty

While hailing the expansion of democracy in the region and the economic possibilities of free trade, Mexican President Vicente Fox said poverty and inequality in the region must also be addressed.

"We know that poverty, especially extreme poverty, is an implacable, unforgiving, exclusionary mechanism in democracy because it separates people physically, psychologically and culturally from the rest of society," he said. "You cannot have genuine democracy in a society where there is so much inequality of poverty, as happens in many areas of Latin America, including Mexico."

Fox proposed that countries participating in the summit pledge to use a percentage of their defense budgets for creation of a "social support fund" to help what he called "the marginalized communities of our hemisphere."

During a break in the discussions prior to a working lunch, Bush and Fox also met for a bilateral discussion of U.S.-Mexican issues. Responding to a question about how to address concerns stemming from free trade, the U.S. leader said labor or environmental provisions in any free trade agreement must not interfere with the purpose of free trade, which is increasing regional prosperity through commerce.

"A prosperous society is one that is more likely to be just, and a prosperous society is one that is more likely to have good environmental standards and to be able to enforce those standards," Bush said. "I firmly believe that commerce and trade go hand-in-hand, which would yield a more prosperous society all throughout the hemisphere."

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