Bush in free trade talks as summit violence rages

US president George Bush and fellow leaders at the Summit of the Americas prepared today to debate whether to rekindle languishing talks on a hemispheric-wide free trade bloc, as protesters set fire to businesses and clashed with police.

Their two-day meeting at Argentina’s seaside city, Mar Del Plata, was almost eclipsed by the violent streets protests against Bush as more than 30 leaders met behind imposing street barricades. Frogmen in speedboats, security forces on rooftops and a phalanx of some 8,000 riot police and troops stood guard as the leaders deliberated on trade liberalisation and jobs.