Protesters clash with police outside APEC summit : IMC Santiago

The Globe and Mail
Friday, Nov 19, 2004

Santiago — Police clashed with rock-throwing protesters Friday as world leaders gathered for a weekend summit of 21 Pacific Rim economies to discuss trade and security.

An estimated 10,000 protesters were expected to take part in a government-approved demonstration in downtown Santiago – far from the summit site on the outskirts of the capital – but riot police used water cannons and tear gas to break up an unauthorized protest that started earlier.

The protesters say they oppose U.S. President George W. Bush, the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the annual gathering of leaders for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit, likening it to a rich man's club that will never the benefit the poor. Mr. Bush was to arrive Friday night.

Prime Minister Paul Martin arrived in Santiago on Friday – a day after firing anti-Bush Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish – only to be met by more anti-Bush sentiment.

Protesters in the Chilean capital waved placards that read “Bush Killer!” and Martin's limo had to be rerouted several times en route to his hotel to avoid the throngs.

Mr. Martin is scheduled to meet Saturday with Mr. Bush to discuss a range of bilateral issues. He intends to use the summit to bring up the tragic civil strife in Haiti, Sudan and Ivory Coast while pressing his case for reform.

Police detained about 25 protesters, said Marco Riquleme, leader of the anti-APEC group that organized the unauthorized protest.

The street clashes marked the fourth straight day of confrontations between police and protesters opposed to the APEC summit.

The protests came a day after trade and foreign ministers from 21 Pacific Rim economies issued a strong show of support for ongoing World Trade Organization talks. They also agreed on new counterterrorism measures aimed at protecting everything from air travel to shipping and food stocks.

Talks launched three years ago in Doha to create a binding trade treaty for the 147-nation WTO group faltered last year amid bickering over agricultural subsidies. They gained ground this year after negotiators reached agreement on a framework that could lead to a deal.

The APEC declaration backing the WTO talks is important because the collective economic weight of members that face the Pacific Ocean represents a big chunk of the global economy, U.S. trade representative Robert Zoellick said.

Numerous bilateral meetings between leaders were planned during the summit, including a key meeting Sunday between the leaders of Japan and China that will seek to resolve a diplomatic uproar over a Chinese nuclear submarine's recent intrusion into Japanese waters.

At the summit, Mr. Bush will seek more international support to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program, administration officials said.

Of the seven one-on-one meetings with other leaders that Mr. Bush plans during the weekend, four of them – China, Japan, South Korea and Russia – are U.S. partners in talks with North Korea aimed at making the Korean peninsula nuclear-free.

APEC members pledged new security measures to tighten access to shoulder-fired missiles, preventing the possibility of terrorists' acquiring them and downing civilian jetliners. Also scheduled for development is a counterterrorism passenger alert system to make flights safer.

They also said they would co-operate to ensure all of the member economies would begin issuing machine-readable passports – if possible with sophisticated biometric identification technology – by 2008.

Other moves called for protecting petroleum storage facilities and making sure food stocks will not be contaminated by bio-terrorists.