Police encircled the roundabout bearing the landmark statue of Capt A A Cipriani on Independence Square, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, forcing a group of placard and flag-bearing protesters on to the eastern side of the square.
Minutes before noon in the blazing sun, representatives and members of Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union, Federation of Independent Trade Unions (Fitun), Communication Workers’ Union and foreign representatives of social movements circled the roundabout with flags, banners and placards.
The event attracted much attention from locals, foreigners, international media and the police.

Riot police were on standby on the western side of the roundabout, while soldiers and other officers positioned throughout the square kept a watchful eye on the swelling crowd of spectators and the group. Addressing the media, David Abdulah, president of Fitun, said: “We decided to have a very peaceful activity this morning at the time we were supposed to be having our peaceful march for social justice, for which permission, of course, was denied by the Commissioner of Police (CoP). “What we are simply doing here this morning is picketing, significantly around the Cipriani statue.”

The Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies was supposed to be the venue for the IV People’s Summit. Abdulah added: “Our statement here this morning is that we have a right, a constitutional right, to freedom of expression, and that includes expressing ourselves by way of peaceful protest. “We came to make a statement, not to attack anybody at the Hyatt.”
He added that it was never the intention “to go into a yellow or red zone,” and “we told the CoP that.”

However, he said: “We insist that we must be in Port-of-Spain and have the right to a peaceful protest, because anytime we give up that right, then every single citizen in this country is in mortal danger.” After he spoke, the majority of the group proceeded to the east of the square and it was then the police converged, preventing people from coming in. A member of Fitun who tried to get in was motioned by officers to stay out. Other officers then formed a barricade from KFC to the demolished Salvatori Building. The group of riot police then marched down the Square to Express House, where they remained for several minutes to ensure that the groups dispersed.