And the results are dreadful for the image of the city in question. The Quebec Wall of Shame will theoretically protect delegates and 34 heads of State from an expected 30,000 protesters from all over the Americas, plus a contingent of dedicated Europeans. One of their supreme icons, though, will be absent. El Comandante Fidel Castro was not invited - to the chagrin of his many Latin American friends, such as Venezuelan presidente Hugo Chavez. The previous Summit of the Americas was in Chile, in 1998.
Nobody remembers what happened.
From a corporate America point of view, the FTAA is a gift from heaven. A great market for foreign direct investment. Loads of strategic commodities. A cheap workforce. Plenty of export appeal to US consumer technology, machinery and financial services.