Over ten thousand people from 44 countries participating in the Americas Social Forum marched through the streets of Quito, Ecuador, on Wednesday 28'TH July chanting slogans against the United States' neocolonial policies and calling for Latin American unity.

The march, called to protest against ALCA/FTAA and other free trade agreements, turned into a huge demonstration in which all the continent s demands and concerns were expressed by indigenous peoples (who participated massively), women, children, youth, GLBT communities, trades unionists, peasants, human rights activists, ecologists, left political parties, pensioners, solidarity movements with Cuba and Venezuela, and so on.

Prominent were calls against the United States interventionist military policies, "free trade" treaties and the transnationals, while at the same time calling for Latin American unity. One of the most popular was "We don t want and have no wish to be a North American colony. But we do want and wish to be a free and sovereign Latin America." There was also "We want /chochos/ (an Andean bean), we want corn – transnationals out."

Women cried "If they globalize misery, we ll globalize resistance." The march started with minor incidents with the police which were resolved. People met in the Arbolito park, very close to the US Embassy and when the head of the march led by indigenous, trades union and other leaders from different social movements tried to pass by the US Embassy it was stopped by a police armored vehicle guarding the Embassy.

However, after a few minutes' wait and come pushing and shoving, the marchers managed to pass the police barrier and the march proceeded northwards, passing by the Ministry of Foreign Trade before arriving back at the Arbolito Park. Half-way through the march masked youths threw stones at the Ministry while a leaflet bomb was let off.

Later the Quito offices of the World Bank and other banks and of transnationals were painted. There were some incidents with the police who threw tear gas but couldn t weaken the strength of the peaceful march which continued despite these obstacles. This was a day of unity which will be included among the big mobilizations that the continent s social movements and other grassroots and popular forces have held in the past few years against neo-liberal policies and to reaffirm that another world is possible.