Groups Stage Rally Against Trade Pact

A collection of mostly conservative political groups held a midday rally near Topanga Plaza mall Saturday to oppose the global trade agreement scheduled for key votes in Congress this week.

About 100 people from Ross Perot’s United We Stand America group and several other organizations distributed flyers to passing motorists, burned a banner warning “Beware One World Government,” and carried signs urging sympathizers to “Call Congress.”

The protesters complained the United States would lose its sovereignty under the agreement’s proposed World Trade Organization that would govern world commerce, replacing the the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

As passersby honked in support, the demonstrators also demanded a delay in the votes until after the new, Republican-controlled Congress convenes in January.

“Right now, there’s no difference between the Republicans and Democrats” on the issue, said Perot supporter Al Kass, a retired aerospace worker who lives in Saugus. “They’re not listening to the people, that’s all.”

“Most of America is still asleep on this issue,” said Paul Borraccia of the Monrovia-based National Health Federation, a group that advocates unconventional health treatments.

There were no arrests during the two-hour, peaceful demonstration, though at one point Los Angeles police told the crowd at Victory and Topanga Canyon boulevards to stay out of the street or face arrest. Private security guards from a building complex at the corner also warned them to stay off the property’s lawn.