Starting at 9 AM the activists picketed in front of the main door of the Mayflower Hotel in the District where the negotiations were being held. Armed with tubas, horns, “Go Terps” thundersticks, cans, pots, pans, and a gong the group marched for an hour and a half, while trying to make enough noise that the delegates inside could hear their resistance. Some individuals handed out informational fliers and others held signs and banners reading “No AL CApitalismo,” “CAFTA is CRAPTA,” “Corporate Agreement For Theft of the Americas (CAFTA)” and “FTAA(), CAFTA, NAFTA, Ya Basta.”

The group was boisterous and noise could be heard inside the hotel. At several points, Latin American press that heard the commotion from the second floor of the hotel and came out to cover the protest.

At one point, delegates from Costa Rica passed by the noise action and were given fliers about why we are opposed to CAFTA. Protesters told them to resist CAFTA and refuse to sign it. Costa Rica’s president was one of five Central American presidents that signed a letter endorsing the U.S.’s version of CAFTA. They pledged that their countries would sign the agreement.

There were minimal problems with the police and hotel security. As soon as the protest started, uniformed police emerged from the building where they had been lying in wait. When it was clear that the protest was not a security or safety risk, and when the National Lawyers Guild legal observers made it clear that we knew our rights, the protest proceeded without a problem.

At the end of the protest, the noisemakers attempted to enter the building. They were promptly escorted out, but not before briefly letting a wave of noise from the antechamber and through an open door into the lobby. The cacerolazo/noise action was called by the Maryland Action Collective.