We are getting closed in

The barriers are going up around the Greenpeace office here in Cancun.

The fences going up around Cancun.

Our office is close to the Convention Center where the meeting is to be held, so it appears we are getting a double ring of fences - about ten feet tall, made of wire and topped with the barbed variety - cordoning off the entire area.

By the end of the day, manana at the latest, we will have to come and go by one of the security overpasses that are being installed all around the Convention Center.

It is a little strange to see so many police milling about and workers putting up barricades, while beachwear-clad tourists wander past. I am not sure all the tourists are aware of what is going on. The tourism minister assures all of us in an article in todays paper that the tourist industry will not be affected. Meanwhile, a local activist has been taunting police (also in todays paper) saying that if demonstrators want to come to the Convention Center, they will do so despite the police presence.

This talk is happening despite Cancun's history of police violence against demonstrators. At the World Economic Forum in 2001, police violence against demonstrators was heavy, including tear gas and violent beatings.

For now, the town continues to become more tense as the police presence grows.