SANTIAGO (AFP) - Chilean anti-riot forces fired water cannon and tear gas at stone-throwing protesters in central Santiago as leaders flew in for a major Asia-Pacific summit.
Mayhem in the capital provided a violent backdrop to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, where President George W. Bush`s "war on terror" and nuclear proliferation appeared set to eclipse trade and the economy.
Police in armored vehicles fired water cannon at small groups of protesters as they tried to gather along main boulevard, Alameda.
Tear gas hung in the air.
Security forces hauled about a dozen protesters into buses.
"This gathering is not authorized. Go away," a loudspeaker blared from an armored car fitted with water cannon.
Protesters chucked stones at the police vehicles.
"No to APEC, No to Bush, No to capitalism," read one protest banner.
Thousands of gathered at another, authorized protest nearby. Water cannon were in position as the march began peacefully.
In an extraordinary clampdown, officials declared a citywide holiday, prompting a long-weekend exodus from Santiago.
More than 5,000 military-style police joined the security operation, while a police helicopter hovered above the city.
Leaders of the 21 economies, including Bush and his partners from China, Japan and Russia, huddle at the weekend in Santiago`s neoclassical Moneda Palace, in sight of the soaring, snow-capped Andes.
Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi are expected later in the day. Chinese President Hu Jintao, on a Latin American swing, arrived Thursday.
APEC foreign ministers, including outgoing US Secretary of State Colin Powell, have already agreed to keep closer tabs on shoulder-mounted missile launchers capable of downing a plane.
"There was also a focus on export controls and, in particular, export controls on materials that could be used for weapons of mass destruction," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.
In the main ministerial "retreat," the ministers broached the North Korean nuclear crisis.
There was "a general agreement that all of us in the region have to put increasing pressure on the North Koreans to participate in the six-party talks," the Australian minister said.
Three rounds of multilateral talks, seeking to persuade Pyongyang to take aid and security guarantees in return for mothballing the nuclear program, have taken place since the standoff erupted in October 2002.
North Korea boycotted a fourth round of talks in September, bringing together the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States in Beijing. All but North Korea are members of APEC.
Bush will meet with heads of the other parties at the talks -- Japan, China, Russia and South Korea -- on the sidelines of the weekend summit to step up pressure on Pyongyang, a State Department official said.
"I think the president`s meetings with the leaders on this can be quite significant in stating his own commitment to the six-party process and how important he thinks it is," he said.
But if there is no North Korean movement, economic sanctions could be considered, Australia`s Downer cautioned.
Aside from discussing terrorism, ministers supported a swift conclusion to World Trade Organization (WTO) efforts to get a new deal freeing up global trade.
In an early APEC coup, China and Chile deepened trading ties by agreeing to start formal negotiations on a free trade pact, with President Ricardo Lagos also granting China much-prized market economy status.
11/19/2004 - 16:48 GMT - AFP