ARGENTINA: 20,000 protest against planned Bush visit

Andrew Hall, Buenos Aires

On September 9, at least 20,000 people marched from the congressional building to Plaza de Mayo in downtown Buenos Aires to protest against the November 4-5 visit for the Summit of the Americas by US President George Bush.

The continuing presence of US troops in Iraq and Latin America, and solidarity with the revolutionary governments of Cuba and Venezuela were key themes of the protest.

The street march followed a huge public debate over the democratic right to protest in the traditional venue of the Plaza de Mayo after the march was initially banned. The government deployed at least 900 police officers around Plaza de Mayo to patrol the demonstration and force it to follow a longer route to the square.

From Green Left Weekly, September 21, 2005.

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From GLW issue 643