 A march of 10,000 anti-Bush protesters, led by the footballer and television host, Diego Maradona, and addressed by Hugo Chavez, the firebrand President of Venezuela, is threatening to overshadow the start of a pan-American summit in Argentina today.The protesters, marshalled by 8,000 troops and police officers who have been despatched to the resort of Mar de Plata to provide security for the conference, will hold a "People’s Summit" in the hours before the official talks begin. The demonstration will criticise a free trade initiative which President Bush is expected to put before the Summit of the Americas in favour of more programmes to fight poverty and create jobs. Argentina is still suffering from the largest debt default in history in 2001.| 'Cos free trade is not related in any way to job creation or poverty reduction. Ev'rybody knows that. |
Mr Chavez, an vehement critic of Mr Bush who models himself on the great South American liberators, Simon Bolivar and Che Guevara, will address the protest before attending the formal opening of the summit, where he has joked that he will sneak up on Mr Bush to frighten him. |