The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is a major trade and investment agreement that has been under negotiation since 1994 and is due to take effect in 2005. The stated purpose of the FTAA is to extend the type of "free trade" provisions found in the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to the whole of the Western Hemisphere. The document's precise content is not known, since negotiations have been held in secret.

In April, the leaders of 34 countries in the Western Hemisphere gathered for the latest round of trade talks in Quebec City at the Summit of the Americas. While the heads of state drafted the FTAA's text, over 60,000 protesters held demonstrations outside the three-mile long fence constructed around the convention area. 6,000 police kept the mostly peaceful protesters from entering the security perimeter and disturbing the negotitions by saturating the air with tear gas, firing plastic bullets and aiming a water canon at the crowd.