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The United States Consulate in New Zealand warnd to its citizens to stay away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership protest taking place Saturday in the capital Auckland.
"Approximately 8,000 people are expected to attend the protest. We urge citizens to avoid the protest march route as even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational,” read the security warning posted on the consulate’s website. “We remind citizens to always exercise caution when in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations.”
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Large anti-#TPP protest likely in #Auckland midday Saturday. @usembassynz expects 8000+ to protest. https://t.co/8dMjKvFcCx #NewZealand
— OSAC (@OSACState)
August 13, 201
The demonstration against the controversial international free trade deal was one of 20 actions organizers have planned in the country.
New Zealand Green Party trade spokesperson Russel Norman, who is taking part in the protest, told Radio New Zealand that the employees at the embassy were invited to participate as such fears were unfounded.
RELATED: The Fight Against TPP Proves US Is Not a Corporatocracy
"I'd just say to the U.S. Embassy, Auckland isn't Ferguson and the police won't be shooting people," he said. "It'll be a peaceful demonstration, they should just relax and maybe they should come along, they might learn something."
Activists are mainly protesting the secrecy of the negotiations over the TPP trade deal. "As we have asked many times, ‘What is the government so determined to hide?’" Edward Miller, spokesperson for It’s Our Future, an organization that seeks to highlight dangers of trade agreements, said through the group's website.
#NewZealand protestors deliver 100,000 signatures in opposition to #TPP: http://t.co/EutU0ZNdUC (image: @ScoopNZ) pic.twitter.com/PW4RRvKpdU
— Melinda St. Louis (@MelindaGTW)
August 13, 201
"We want to live in a genuine democracy that puts people, not foreign investors and multinational corporations, first. We want the right to decide our own futures, as befits a modern democracy," he added.
The warning comes just weeks after the U.S. faced a backlash over the TPP agreement when an investigation showed that senior officials at the U.S. State Department intervened to change the findings of its human trafficking report in order to upgrade Malaysia's ranking, allegedly in order to allow the administration to conduct trade with the nation.
RELATED: What Drives Governments to Keep TISA, TPP and TTIP Secret?
