MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Protestors ready to receive President Bush in Santiago.

Protesters gathered this Thursday in downtown Santiago to read a statement repudiating US president George Bush' visit to Chile this Friday, but also anticipated that they are saving the best of their energies for when “the murderer actually steps on Chilean soil”.

"Today is peaceful but tomorrow when the murderer arrives we plan to take the city", said Marcos Riquelme leader of the anti- APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Development) summit scheduled this week end in Santiago.

Twenty one world leaders representing over half of the world's population, 65% of global GDP and trade, will be gathering over the weekend in Chile and local authorities have implemented an unprecedented security network deploying 5,000 policemen, limiting air and naval traffic, closing downtown Santiago and the city's main arteries as well as declaring Friday a holiday.

After reading the statement in front of Santiago's National Library, Mr. Riquelme who was one of 376 arrested on Wednesday for rioting promised an even larger turnout this Friday to condemn President Bush's presence in the country.

The anti-Apec campaign is organized by the Chilean Social Forum with support from other international groups who believe globalization and multilateral institutions such as APEC, World Trade Organization, World Bank, IMF, have only helped to make the world's rich richer, and the poor poorer. Besides they want an immediate end to military actions led by the US in Iraq and to Cuba's US blockade.

On Thursday also, five blocks of Chilean Social Forum protesters marched on the Chilean Foreign Affairs Ministry chanting anti globalization slogans, trampling US flags and carrying a huge canvas with the signatures of 5,000 who reject President Bush's visit to Chile. A document with the 5,000 signatures was received by a staff member of the Ministry.

"We're not protesting against the US people but against the main murderer in the planet; we're not slaves or want to be", read other charts carried by the marchers.

However in other Chilean cities with significant university populations, there were violent clashes between protestors and police forces.