A tight security net enveloped Denver as the city braced yesterday for the arrival of tens of thousands of supporters and protesters for the Democratic Party’s political extravaganza.
Some 45,000 people are expected in the city, nestled on the edge of the Rocky Mountains, with an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 police and security personnel to be deployed for the four-day convention which opens today.
But the security plans for the party convention coordinated by the secret service along with some 55 other agencies including the FBI and the US military have been denounced by civil rights groups as draconian and over-arching.
PHOTO: AFP
The first demonstrations were set to kick off early Sunday with a march outside the convention center called “to end the occupation” in Iraq.
“The fascist direction this country has taken should be brought to a halt and it can only be done by conscious activism, by people living in this country saying we will no longer go along with the things done by the Bush administration,” activist Debra Sweet, director of the World Can’t Wait activist group, said.
Yesterday’s march is just one of many planned over the four days as Democrats meet to nominate Illinois Senator Barack Obama as their White House candidate for the Nov. 4 elections.
On the sidelines of the political jamboree, Hollywood stars and top pop bands will rub shoulders with lawmakers and a host of activist groups eager to publicize their messages.
For a country which has been traumatized by political assassinations, and still scarred by the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, events such as conventions pose a huge security headache and conjure up nightmarish scenarios.
The Denver gathering also falls on the 40th anniversary of the 1968 Chicago convention which erupted in violence when anti-Vietnam war protesters fought running battles with police.
Obama’s White House bid has already been overshadowed by fears for his safety and he was given Secret Service protection much earlier than any previous presidential candidate.
In an added complication, Obama suddenly decided to break with tradition and give his acceptance speech in Denver’s 75,000-seat Invesco football stadium, throwing up in the air arrangements in the planning since April last year.
“That was a last minute change and it does present a challenge in that it came about at the last minute,” said Malcolm Wiley, a spokesman for the Secret Service.
“It’s really just a matter of relying on the partnerships that were already in place ... using the same resources to put the event together on somewhat short notice for Invesco field,” he said.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has vowed that despite the tight security, transport links will keep running and residents should see little disruption to their daily lives.
But activists have complained they are being given little opportunity to openly protest outside the convention center, and will be hidden from delegates behind a chain-link fence.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sought to challenge the security arrangements before a Denver court, but was overruled by the judge who said protesters’ rights to freedom of speech had not been infringed.
Activists however have dubbed the rally area “Guantanamo on the Platte” linking the river which runs through the city to the US military base in Cuba where “war on terror” detainees are held.
And the ACLU, which has posted an emergency number on its website for anyone needing legal help during the convention, is also concerned about a police holding center for those arrested during the demos, set up in a warehouse.
“The future of the next few days is unwritten. But the level to which the secret service the federal government and the city of Denver have already gone to interfere with the free speech rights of protesters is unprecedented,” Sweet said.
But Wiley denied the security measures were over the top.
“It will not look like a police state or a war zone, but there will certainly be an increased presence that is just a hallmark of the necessary security,” he said.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
RELEASE: The move follows Washington’s removal of Havana from its list of terrorism sponsors. Most of the inmates were arrested for taking part in anti-government protests Cuba has freed 127 prisoners, including opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer, in a landmark deal with departing US President Joe Biden that has led to emotional reunions across the communist island. Ferrer, 54, is the most high-profile of the prisoners that Cuba began freeing on Wednesday after Biden agreed to remove the country from Washington’s list of terrorism sponsors — part of an eleventh-hour bid to cement his legacy before handing power on Monday to US president-elect Donald Trump. “Thank God we have him home,” Nelva Ortega said of her husband, Ferrer, who has been in and out of prison for the
RSS