Colombia protesters riot as Bush arrives (LatAm loves El Mono)

[Say_What]

<clips>

BOGOTA, Colombia — About 150 protesters attacked riot police with rocks and metal barriers and ripped down lampposts in Colombia's capital on Sunday, just moments after President Bush landed for a six-hour visit.

Some 200 helmeted police in full body armor responded with water cannon and tear gas and reclaimed the street, about a mile from the presidential palace, banging their batons against riot shields as they marched forward.

Some of the rioters later rampaged on Bogota's main avenue, breaking shop windows and ripping computers from bank offices. The rioters had broken away from a larger group of 2,000 protesters. At least one police officer was injured and 35 people arrested, said a city police spokesman who insisted he not be further identified.

The country was otherwise unusually peaceful.

A small bomb exploded Sunday morning in the lawless Pacific port of Buenaventura, injuring two civilians. The police blamed the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which has been fighting the government for 42 years but which President Alvaro Uribe has put on the defensive.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4620459.html

[MADem]

1. The country, not the university where Dirty Sanchez attends...! NT

[rodeodance]

2. Wish Bush would see the very powerful photo on the page.

[Say_What]

3. Colombia welcomes El Mono....

Demonstrators burn a US flag during an anti-Bush protest in Bogota. Bush visited Colombia Sunday in a show of support for the conflict-torn US ally, as violent protests continued to mark his goodwill tour of Latin America.(AFP/Rodrigo Arangua)


Colombian anti-riot police spray water at demonstrators after the arrival of U.S. President George W. Bush in Bogota, Colombia, March 11, 2007. (Daniel Munoz/Reuters)


Demonstrators burn a replica of a U.S. flag after the arrival of U.S. President George W. Bush in Bogota March 11, 2007. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz (COLOMBIA)


Demonstrators clash with anti-riot police after the arrival of U.S. President George W. Bush in Bogota, Colombia, March 11, 2007. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz (COLOMBIA)


A demonstrator hooded with a US flag knees in front of riot police during protests against the visit of US President George W. Bush in Bogota, Sunday, March 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

[Bonobo]

8. self-delete

[Peace Patriot]

4. Look for the "ap" (Associated Press) in the url, and beware. They are one of the worst

war profiteering corporate news monopolies, and they are especially bad (lying scumbags) on South American leftists.

Among the things that I would seriously question in this article--that the "rampage" was unprovoked (protesters just decided to throw rocks at a vast phalanx of armored cops for no reason), that there were only 2,000 protesters, that 35 were merely arrested (and not beaten senseless), that the word of "a city police spokesman who insisted he not be further identified" should be trusted and his/her statements provided without quotation marks, that the country was "otherwise unusually peaceful," and that President Uribe has "put (FARC) on the defensive." (Whose word do they have for these things?)

AP often treats rightwing propaganda as if it were "news."

Cheers and kudos to the Colombian people who dared to protest our criminal president's visit!

[roody]

7. www.indymedia.org

This is a better source for news. www.indymedia.org

[Say_What]

15. AP = Associated/Approved Propaganda n/t

[Peace Patriot]

5. Say_What, thanks for posting the Kneeling Protester photo! nt

[Joe Chi Minh]

6. Brilliant, isn't it? Even the riot police seem awed.

[Say_What]

11. Yeah, the pic speak volumns!! n/t

[Say_What]

18. That photo made the front page of El Tiempo...

http://www.eltiempo.com/


Un manifestante realiza un acto simbólico sobre las torturas de la base de E.U. en Guantánamo. Más de un centenar de protestantes fueron detenidos. AP / Ricardo Mazalan

[Bonobo]

9. In America, we would have shot and killed those who threw the barricade.

[Say_What]

10. Oh keeeeerist, Pickles is reading to underprivileged Colombian children

Jasus F*cking Keerist! Can the photo opps get any lamer?

BOGOTA, Colombia - While
President Bush and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe talked trade and the war on drugs Sunday, first lady
Laura Bush read in English to a group of underprivileged Colombian children.

Escorted by Colombia's first lady, Lina Moreno, Bush — a former librarian and teacher — went to a children's library in Bogota's old town, where she read what she called one of her favorite books — "Kitten's First Full Moon," by Kevin Henkes, about a hungry cat who confuses the full moon with a bowl of milk.

"I love to read, do you like to read?" said Bush, before being drowned out by a shout of "Si!" from the children gathered at the Rafael Pombo foundation, a reading center named for a 19th century author.

The group of 16 children were from a school on Bogota's poor outskirts underwritten by a foundation belonging to Colombian pop singer Shakira.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070311/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/bush_first_ladies_1


U.S. First Lady Laura Bush shows a book to children during her visit to Rafael Pombo's library in Bogota, Sunday, March 11, 2007. (AP Photo/William Fernando Martinez)

[cdnwannabe]

12. Anyone else think she looks like Nicholson in Batman in this pic!

[regnaD kciN]

19. So, what else is new...?

She looks like The Joker in every picture!

[Say_What]

13. Hey they're toasting El Mono.... caption this photo!!

[Bacchus39]

14. el mono is not an insult in Colombia. It means blonde guy.

use simio or mico instead. or pendejo.

[Say_What]

17. El Mono...

[goforit]

16. We need to convince Bush to take a looong vacation. We'll be fine without him!

[regnaD kciN]

20. Yes, but what about the poor countries he'd be visiting...???

Oh, the humanity!

[Judi Lynn]

21. Protesters greet Bush visit to Colombia

Protesters greet Bush visit to Colombia
Mar 12 2007

icWales

ABOUT 150 protesters attacked riot police with rocks and metal barriers and ripped down lampposts in Colombia’s capital Bogota as US President George Bush paid a six-hour visit to the close US ally.

The highest-security stop on Bush’s five-nation tour, last night’s visit to Colombia was also the shortest stopover on the trip.

The protesters object to the £350 million annually received by Colombia in mostly military US aid, blaming the assistance for fuelling the country’s decades-old civil conflict and encouraging human rights abuses by this country’s armed forces. The demonstrators also protested against the war in Iraq.

As Bush arrived in Guatemala last night, more than 100 Mayan Indians protested in the city of Tecpan, holding signs that read: “No more blood for oil.”
(snip)

For Bush’s visit to Colombia, some 200 helmeted police in full body armour responded to protests with water cannon and tear gas and reclaimed the street - about a mile from the presidential palace where the US president got a red-carpet welcome- banging batons against riot shields as they marched forward.

Some of the rioters, mainly students, later rampaged down Bogota’s main avenue, breaking shop windows and ripping computers from bank offices. The rioters had broken away from a larger group of 2,000 protesters.

Four police officers were injured and 100 people were arrested, said Bogota police chief Gen. Daniel Castiblanco.
(snip/...)

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0700world/tm_headline=protesters-greet-bush-visit-to-colombia&method=full&objectid=18740914&siteid=50082-name_page.html