AMY GOODMAN: Yesterday, anti-corporate globalization activists found a creative way to “air” their grievances over Quebec City. They took off in a single-engine plane from Vermont and flew under the radar through Canada and skirted the security perimeter in Quebec City, where the summit is being held. Along the route, they dropped thousands of leaflets from the plane decrying the disastrous impact of free trade agreements on democracy and the environment.

Joan Roney joins us right now from Quebec City.

Welcome to Democracy Now!

JOAN RONEY: Hello.

AMY GOODMAN: Hi. Are you there?

JOAN RONEY: Yes, I am. Hello, Amy,

AMY GOODMAN: Can you tell us what you did yesterday?

JOAN RONEY: Well, yesterday morning, we took off from Vermont in a two-seater airplane. And we went along the St. Lawrence River and went about 500 feet off the ground, because if you go that low, then you can’t be noticed by radar. So we followed the route all the way up to Quebec City and popped up very high, because there is a ceiling there, and if you go within the ceiling, supposedly, you could be in trouble or shot down because it’s restricted airspace. And there, we — on the way up and over Quebec City, we dropped about 7,000 leaflets.

AMY GOODMAN: Any detection?

JOAN RONEY: Surprisingly, there was nobody — we only noticed one airplane on the way back. And it was — it looked like a recreational plane. It was across the St. Lawrence River on the other side, right near Montreal.

AMY GOODMAN: And what did the leaflets say?

JOAN RONEY: And actually, that was our first flight. The leaflets said, “Anti-corporate globalization activists air grievances over Quebec City,” blah, blah, blah. And then it went on to top 10 reasons to oppose the Free Trade Area of the Americas, with the last one being free trade agreements lead to militarism. And on a smaller scale, militarism has shown itself in communities of color and at protests in Seattle and now Quebec City. And it went on. It also went into the history of why we picked leafleting.

AMY GOODMAN: Joanie Roney, the last time you were on Democracy Now! was right after the inauguration of George Bush, where you —

JOAN RONEY: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: — also were involved with a very creative action. Can you summarize it for us very quickly?

JOAN RONEY: Well, George W. Bush, when he took the oath of office in a private setting for a few thousand people — I say “private” because you needed tickets to get in — we somehow got hold of tickets, myself and this young man, and we — right when he went to take the oath of office with Chief Justice Rehnquist, we dropped our clothes and dropped our drawers and revealed the signs of discontent, basically saying there’s no democracy, and such and such, “Hail to the thief,” and things like that. That’s what we did.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you for being with us. You’re now in Quebec City?

JOAN RONEY: No, I came back to Vermont. We did two flights. And we might do another one. Our second flight was flown over Cornwall, as we watched the activists attempt to cross — U.S. activists attempt to cross into Canada, Canadian areas. And we dropped leaflets over the Royal Mounted Police and Cornwall. And, yeah, we’re just doing something the U.S. military has done for years in undemocratic — supposedly undemocratic areas. So, that’s why we chose to do this.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you for being with us, as we do a roundup on this day of protests in Quebec City, and the beginning of a weekend of protests here in the United States, as well. We’ll be speaking with leading Canadian activists, asking protesters in this country, if they had a chance to ask President Bush a question as he attends the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, what it would be. Joanie Roney, thanks for joining us.

We’re going to now find out what happened in a mass action yesterday against the FTAA. A caravan of 500 people drove from Burlington, Vermont, to the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation in upstate New York. After a traditional fish fry and a discussion of how the Free Trade Area of the Americas will impact Indigenous peoples, the Mohawk organizers then led the caravan to the Canadian border. When Canadian officials denied one activist entry, citing a history of political organizing, most of the contingent refused to cross into Canada. They said the gesture symbolized their vision of a society in which no one is left behind.

We’re joined now by Lesley Wood, who is with the Direct Action Network.

Welcome to Democracy Now!, Lesley.

LESLEY WOOD: Hi.

AMY GOODMAN: You were a part of that caravan?

LESLEY WOOD: Yes, I was.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you tell us how it went down? We had two Mohawks on yesterday debating the issue — two days ago — of this action. Explain what happened?

LESLEY WOOD: Well, as you said, we headed off from Burlington yesterday in a strong caravan and had the fish fry and the speeches. And there was, yeah, about 500 folks, lots of shiny vans. And we had made a decision at a spokescouncil in Burlington, Vermont, that we would not leave anyone behind. And so, when we got to the border and some people were turned back, the vast majority of people returned, returned to the United States, and decided to go in their various ways. But it was a fantastic opportunity to work with allies we had within the Mohawk community and build an understanding about the issues that they’re facing in terms of free trade and in terms of some of the struggles they’ve been going through on their reserves.

AMY GOODMAN: I know there was some controversy on the reservation about using Akwesasne to go across. Did you see any evidence of that?

LESLEY WOOD: There were a few people who were asking us to leave once we crossed, and we just we just kept moving. Also, I know that when the group went back to the spokescouncil, our allies on the reserve, some traditional Mohawks, had told us that we could meet and have a spokescouncil back on the American side. And the police, the Mohawk police, sent everybody on their way, so they left the reserve at that point.

AMY GOODMAN: And what are your plans for Quebec City?

LESLEY WOOD: Well, I’m actually in Quebec City right now. A couple of us had visa issues, so we couldn’t return to the United States. But another 10 people just showed up from Philadelphia. So, there’s a few people who are gradually trickling in who tried other borders. And now we’ll sort of try and regroup and figure out what we can do in Quebec City today. But out of — we had booked 160 people from New York and Philadelphia, and we have about 15 people here.

AMY GOODMAN: And the grounds that people were turned back?

LESLEY WOOD: Yes, that’s right.

AMY GOODMAN: The grounds on which the Canadian border patrol turned them back?

LESLEY WOOD: Yeah, I mean, because only about —

AMY GOODMAN: What were the grounds?

LESLEY WOOD: Well, most people turned back voluntarily, when they were refused entry, and then tried other borders. And anybody who was suspected of participating in protests here, who was an American, would be refused entry to the United States. And so, that’s what people were mostly being turned back on, or for prior convictions or prior charges, that weren’t even convicted. If they were charged at one of the protests in Philadelphia or Seattle or Washington, that was grounds for them to be refused. And people were being refused on that basis.

AMY GOODMAN: Lesley Wood, thanks for being with us, from the Direct Action Network, speaking to us from Quebec City.

Well, a ring of steel, unprecedented levels of security and tens of thousands of protesters will greet 34 leaders from nations across the Americas today when they open a three-day summit in Quebec City. President Bush will arrive today. Canadian authorities have deployed around 7,000 police and 1,200 troops. They’ve also built a 10-foot-high fence some four miles long to seal off parts of the historic old city and summit venues. Protesters have dubbed the fence the “Wall of Shame” and liken it to the Berlin Wall as a symbol of oppression and division.

Although the summit will spend no more than half an hour discussing the progress made in FTAA negotiations, the protesters have succeeded in ensuring the potential dangers of free trade are at the top of the popular agenda. Protests also are planned far from Quebec City with marches or blockades planned in other Canadian and U.S. cities and in Tijuana, Mexico, near the border with California, as well as New Mexico. And we’re going to be going there shortly. The Electrohippie Collective said it was targeting websites connected with the summit for protest activity, most likely a flood of email that would hamper operation of the sites.

In the next segments, we’re going to speak with leading Canadian activists. But before we go there, I had a chance this week to talk with protesters in the United States who are involved in their own actions in different cities, and asked if they had a chance to go to Quebec City and ask President Bush a question about the Summit of the Americas, about the Free Trade Area of the Americas, what would that question be?

SCOTT HEISER: This is Scott Heiser from Detroit Stop FTAA Coalition. And I would say to ask President Clinton — or, Bush — Clinton, Bush, take your choice — President Bush, why is it that the rest of civil society does not get to take part in any of the negotiations, which are being done secretly, except for representation lobbyists from multinational corporations? That would be my first question.

ANNE PETERMANN: Anne Petermann with the Vermont Mobilization for Global Justice. And I guess I would ask why he should be allowed in the country with a DWI, which Canadians don’t allow — you know, Canada doesn’t allow people in the country with DWIs — while they simultaneously exclude people with records from nonviolent peaceful protest.

MICHAEL McCORMACK: This is Michael McCormack in Kansas City with Solidarity and Unity Now. I guess I would have to ask Mr. Bush, or President Bush, why it seems that these policies are going to only make a bad situation in the U.S. even worse, why it is that this is going to increase the inequality, the poverty and oppression, which so many people already see as unacceptable. And that would be my question.

MAGALI OFFERMAN: And this is Magali Offerman from the San Diego Stop the FTAA Coalition. I don’t think I would have so much a question for President Bush, but more of a statement or demand, I guess, that there should be full participation of the communities of the peoples in the Americas in anything that is going to decide their futures, that is going to affect the quality of their lives. So, not so much ask him why things are happening, but just a demand that this needs to be a transparent process and a democratic process.

JASON MARK: This is Jason Mark for Global Exchange. My question for Mr. Bush would be that, given the failure of energy deregulation here in the state of California, which is going to result in a massive transfer of wealth, billions of dollars from families here in California to energy corporations based largely in Texas — given that experience, why is the U.S. including in the — why is the U.S. pushing the FTAA for provisions for energy deregulation and other utility and services deregulation around the hemisphere? Hasn’t worked in California. Certainly didn’t work in Cochabamba, Bolivia, when they tried to privatize their water system there. And so, why are we pushing this failed model across the hemisphere?

JIA-CHING CHEN: This is Jia-Ching in San Francisco from JustAct. And I also have a similar question to what Jason was saying, and just more that the privatization agenda, in general, and the deregulation agenda is being pushed not only in — around public resources, but also around public services, such as education, and, frighteningly, the running of prison and law enforcement agencies. I would ask President Bush how, when these things are becoming increasingly removed from the public sphere and local, geographically local, control, how he expects there to be accountability.

AMY GOODMAN: Just some of the questions activists have from around this country who are all going to be involved with local protests and teach-ins this weekend, this weekend of the Summit of the Americas. And you’ll be able to see all of their websites and contact information on our website at www.webactive.com. You’re listening to Democracy Now! Back with the Canadian leaders, activists in a minute, as well as one of the people who will be at a different border, and that is the U.S.-Mexico border, engaged in teach-ins and protests this weekend, as well. Stay with us.