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 News from Around the Americas | October 2005 
Argentine Resort Fortified For Summit
 CNN.com
| | A man walks past graffiti demanding "Bush out!" in Montevideo, Uruguay. |
Buenos Aires, Argentina - Thousands of police took up posts Monday, barricading Argentina's Atlantic resort of Mar del Plata as authorities braced for the fourth Summit of the Americas set to begin Thursday.
About 10,000 federal and regional police officers cordoned off the city as a tight security plan took effect after midnight. The 2-day summit will be attended by 34 heads of state, including U.S. President George W. Bush.
Other security measures include tightly restricting airspace over the city, offshore naval patrols by ships and limited access to downtown Mar del Plata.
The summit at this popular summer resort 230 miles (370 kilometers) south of Buenos Aires will focus on poverty and job creation. But clearly security precautions dominated the run-up to the summit.
"The subject of security has become increasingly complex" with each new meeting, Argentine Summit ambassador Jorge Taiana said on coordinating security logistics with each country's delegation.
Argentine officials said they are bracing for protests by an array of anti-American and anti-Summit protest groups. They said they will have the police forces on hand if necessary to counter any violent demonstrations like those that have dogged past summits.
While the heads of state are meeting at a Mar del Plata luxury hotel at the center of the security corridor, other groups are planning protests in the city for the third "Summit of the People of the Americas" to be held November 1-5.
A citywide march planned for Friday is expected to specifically oppose Bush's appearance at the summit.
Labor activist Juan Gonzalez, one of the organizers of the People's Summit, said the protests will condemn policies that promote globalization as a way to reduce poverty and create jobs but it has only hurt the marginalized and worsened conditions for the poor.
"We personify in Bush ... everything that we don't want," Gonzalez said, adding that he thinks free markets and more private investors will not help create new jobs in Latin America.
Another planning to join in the protests is 45-year-old Argentine soccer idol Diego Maradona.
Maradona, a friend of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, said he would take part in a "protest train" that will carry an unspecified number of demonstrators later this week from Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata.
"We're going to repudiate the arrival of Bush in Argentina," Maradona said in an Argentine television interview Sunday.
Of Bush, he said his policies have only led to war and bloodshed, adding "it seems brutal to me what he's done with Afghanistan, Iraq."
US Banks Targeted
The U.S. ambassador to Argentina, Lino Gutierrez, recently told the Argentine media that security measures for the summit have been well organized.
"We're really satisfied by what Argentina's doing," Gutierrez added.
The region has seen a rash of anti-American actions in the months leading up to the conference, with several minor bombs targeting banks and other foreign business in Buenos Aires on October 7.
Small explosive devices on Monday also damaged two automatic teller machines at U.S.-interest banks in Montevideo, the neighboring Uruguayan capital, as well as an American cultural organization there. But no one was reported injured in any of the incidents.
Before it is over, the Summit is expected to bring in nearly 50,000 people to Mar del Plata, a city of approximately 600,000 residents.
But with local schools suspending classes and several businesses closing for the week, many residents plan to leave.
Others, however, formed long lines over the weekend to obtain security credentials to remain, ready to ride out the security inconveniences for the sake of hospitality.
Nestor Benedette, a manager at Tio Curzio Restaurant blocks from the summit site, said security measures will prevent his normal dinner patrons from showing up this week. But he sees long-term benefits for the city.
"We believe that this is a great opportunity to show to the world what Mar del Plata is like," Benedette said, adding that he hopes the out-of-towners will keep his restaurant busy. |
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