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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | March 2007 
Bush Protesters, Police Clash in Mexico
 Peter Orsi - Associated Press
| | An injured and bleeding demonstrator takes part in a rally to protest a visit to Mexico by US President George W. Bush in front of the US embassy in Mexico City. Bush on Tuesday promised his Mexican counterpart to seek change in US immigration policy, which affects millions of Mexicans and strains bilateral ties. (AFP/Ronaldo Schemidt) |
Hundreds of demonstrators marched to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, attacking riot police with concrete blocks, metal bars and firecrackers and tearing down barricades to protest the visit of President Bush.
Mexican police responded by unleashing tear gas and pepper spray, throwing rocks and clubbing demonstrators with batons.
Several protesters were arrested or injured, one with blood pouring from his head.
The demonstrators burned U.S. flags and waved banners with slogans against the U.S. president, such as one which said: "Bush you are not welcome in Mexico. Go to Hell."
Bush was hundreds of miles away in the southeastern city of Merida meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon on the last stop of his tour of Latin America.
Protests have broken out in many countries on Bush's itinerary, and local police have responded forcefully and kept demonstrators far away from the U.S. president.
On Friday, police fired tear gas at thousands of protesters in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and beat some of them with batons. On Sunday, scores of rioters rampaged in Bogota, Colombia, breaking shop windows and ripping computers from offices before police responded with tear gas and water cannon.
A group of about 30 masked protesters clad in black led the attack on the thick lines of riot police defending the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. The protesters ripped away a section of metal barricade and attacked the officers with pieces of concrete, sticks, blow torches and metal bars and fences they used as battering rams.
When police fired back with tear gas and charged, the protesters scattered in all directions.
Lorenzo Fernandez, the commanding officer at the scene, said the police were only defending themselves. "These are people who don't know how to demonstrate pacifically," he said.
The vast majority of Mexicans oppose the war in Iraq and many also blame Bush for tough anti-immigration policies.
"We are in disagreement with the war policy," said craftswoman Guadalupe Fernandez, 64, who was marching but not involved in the violence.
In Merida, about 100 protesters marched to Bush's hotel for the second night in a row carrying Mexican flags and calling Bush a "murderer."
A small group of police tried to block their path but protesters pushed past them and pounded on high metal security barriers outside the hotel in an unsuccessful attempt to bring them down. Some tossed chunks of concrete over the barriers, but police on the other side did not respond.
A Mexican radio journalist was hit with a slab of concrete and taken to the hospital.
Bush was away from his hotel having dinner with Calderon at the time.
Security was heavy in the town, with U.S. helicopters buzzing in the skies and police guarding luxury hotels. Local schools were canceled, and plainclothes Secret Service agents dressed in guayabera shirts and straw hats patrolled the grounds.
Associated Press writer Traci Carl in Merida contributed to this report. |
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