Riots greet Bush in Colombia

A red carpet official welcome and rioting protesters greeted US President George W Bush yesterday as he stopped briefly to renew US support for its ally Colombia.

Bush went to the capital Bogota for a show of confidence in President Alvaro Uribe and the country’s battle against narco terrorists, but the stop was clouded by a political scandal involving Uribe, and security jitters had Bush staying only about six hours.

Colombia was the third country on the president’s five-nation tour of Latin America.

He began his journey in Brazil, flew from Uruguay to Colombia and was headed later last night to Guatemala. Bush’s last stop is in Mexico before returning to Washington on Wednesday.

Despite close ties between Uribe and Bush, the US president’s visit has generated considerable criticism and strong protests.

About a mile away from the presidential palace that was the site for all Bush’s events, around 2,000 protesters chanted “Down with Bush” and burned American flags.

About 150 of them broke away, attacking riot police with rocks and metal barriers and ripping down lampposts.

Around 200 police in full body armour responded with water cannons to reclaim the street. The president’s convoy passed about 200 yards away. No injuries were immediately reported.

On Friday night, a concert by former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters featured a big balloon of a pig that said “Patron Bush, Welcome to your Colombian Ranch”.

It was Bogota’s first visit from a sitting president since Ronald Reagan in 1982. Bush went in 2004 to coastal Cartagena, always deemed far safer than the capital of Colombia afflicted by civil conflict for half a century.

Bush received a red-carpet greeting by a military honour guard when his plane landed. Arriving in the palace courtyard, horses pranced and a large military band played the national anthems of both countries before the two presidents reviewed troops.

Some 20,000 police and heavily armed troops were mobilised to prevent any rebel attack.

Sharpshooters were positioned on rooftops, the city centre was shut down to traffic and Bogotanos had to do without their beloved “ciclovia”, in which major avenues are given over on Sundays to biking, skating and jogging.

Bush rode to the palace on a route lined with armed police standing guard every few feet, and his motorcade included white pickup trucks filled with local security officers. Manhole covers were spray-painted to alert security agents to tampering.

The president has indicated he will ask Congress to maintain current aid levels to Colombia at roughly £700m (€533.3m) annually to support the Latin American nation’s fight against terrorism and drug trafficking.

Colombia receives more US aid than any country outside the Middle East and Afghanistan.

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe noted Bush would meet with Colombians involved in various US programmes “that help them reap the benefits of a democracy as well as demonstrate the compassion of the American people”.