NEWS opnewseditor@gmail.com Cambell River Welcoming BC Cruise Ships Nicole Burton, News Editor Western Media Shuns Tranquil FTAA Events An announcement was made this last week that the infa- mous town to the north of us, Campbell River, will be soon constructing a highly anticipated Cruise Ship Terminal to encourage development, commerce, and tourism in the area. Minister of Western Economic Diversification, Stephen Owen, made a public announcement alongside the Minister of State (Sport), that the long-awaited Campbell River cruise ship terminal will soon be open for business, thanks to a $9 million investment from the gov- ernment. “Tt is vital that British Columbia has the infrastructure necessary to capitalize on the growing opportunities with- in the cruise ship and tourism industry,” said Owen. “With this new terminal, Campbell River will soon be a destination of choice for travelers around the world.” Violent minority highlighted instead Erin Kaipenen, The Brock Press (Brock University) MAR DEL PLATA/ROSARIO, ARGENTINA (CUP)— Newspapers and television media in both Canada and Argentina hugely exaggerated the gravity of a minor dis- turbance in Mar del Plata this past Friday, the day of the official opening of the fourth Summit of the Americas. To begin with, news sources in Canada devoted little of no attention to the People's Summit, which began last Wednesday and finished with a street march and gathering in a soccer stadium on Friday. Perhaps this is because, aside from the dialogue between the people of the Americas (there were large groups of people from Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, and Uruguay, and smaller groups from the other nations of the Americas), and aside from a reunion of Indigenous peoples from across the Americas, and aside from the attendance of about 10,000 people at the People's Summit, there was nothing of significance to report. The lack of media coverage at the People's Summit, however, had nothing to do with the lack of journalists or photographers in attendance; to the contrary, they were everywhere. No, the lack of media coverage of the People's Summit stems from the fact that before 4pm Friday after- noon, the city of Mar del Plata was asleep. Residents and tourists alike fled amidst fears of vio- lence and disturbances. Nearly all of the local businesses had closed and many had boarded up their shops with plywood. Mar del Plata, usually a bustling seaside destination, felt like the scene from Vanilla Sky when Tom Cruise's character finds him- self driving through the abandoned streets of New York City at rush hour. That was Mar del Plata last week, even on Friday, the day of the arrival of the 34 heads of state (excluding Fidel Castro), and the day of the march against George Bush and the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The only street that was awake was Avenida Independencia, where some 10,000-30,000 (depending on the source) marched from downtown to the Estadio Mundialista. That's right, we, the people in opposition to the FTAA and to Bush marched away from the three rings of police fences and the some 60 blocks that made up the restricted zone. Although, and rightfully so, there was no shortage of anti-Bush sentiment, the march was peaceful. The massive reunion in the stadium illustrated this fact: the people gathered, nearly filling the stadium, to dance, chant, and listen to various performers including Cuban Silvio Rodriguez and to listen to a list of speakers which included Hebe Bonafini of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, soccer-god Diego Maradona, and the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. After Chavez's speech, most people left the stadium and went home. I went alone to the summit and didn't know the schedule of events, and because of what I “knew” of the Quebec summit (in quotations marks because now I don't know if I should believe the media The new Campbell River Cruise Ship Terminal will be an international port open to cruise ships worldwide. By accommodating the larger cruise ship vessels, the commu nity of Campbell River can take advantage of some of the economic benefits brought by visitors from around the world. The terminal will complement British Columbia's cruise ship industry, which is currently Canada's leading cruise ship centre. Campbell River is sit- uated within the Discovery Passage, which makes it a per- fect destination port facility. From all of us here at the Other Press, we send our congratulations to the town of Campbell River and anx- iously await the construction of their cruise terminal and impending tourism oasis. stories about the 2001 summit either), I assumed that after the rally in the stadium the march would continue back downtown, to the fences and to the other Summit. But this was never on the agenda for the organizers of the People's Summit, so, at 5pm, when the official summit opened, the streets of Mar del Plata were nearly as quiet as they had been during the days leading up to the arrival of the heads of state. This tranquility was not reported in the media. However, as soon as a small group of “punkateros” (a cross between punks and the sometimes violent bands of protesters, the Piqueteros, and a term borrowed from Rosario daily, La Capital), started clashing with police, the media had something to work with. This moment and the Argentine television coverage afterwards (as well as Canadian print coverage and cover- age on the MSN/CTV/Sympatico website) confirmed to me that this is what the media (and many of its con- sumers) wanted and expected of the Summit of the Americas. Some news sources in Argentina directly associated the disturbance on Avenida Colon with the “anti-sum- mit,’ but those who broke windows, burned the Banco Galicia, and stole alfajores (Argentine sweets) from the local Havana cafe franchise, were not the same people who attended the People's Summit. News sources in Canada and Argentina varied in their estimates of the number involved in the clash with police, but they ranged from 300 to as many as 1,000. While I was not right there, (I maintained a distance of two or three blocks), in my opinion, there were fewer than 100, and more likely the number of rioters was between 20 and 30. Only on Sunday, two days later, did the Argentine press (Rosario Daily, La Capital) revise this generous esti- mate to be “a group of a little more than 50.” In Saturday's newspapers and Friday's television coverage, those who clashed with police were “anti-globalization” protesters or “anti-Bush” protesters. Sunday, after some reflection, they were reduced to “punketeros” without any particular political.