Bush visit angers Guatemalan Mayans

Following demonstrations during his trips to Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia, Bush is now being urged not to visit the Iximche Mayan ruins which indigenous Guatemalans consider a holy site.

Indigenous Guatemalans staged an overnight vigil near Iximche, 90km west of the capital, saying Bush's visit would "sully" the site.

In Tecpan, near the ruins, protesters set up banners that read: "out with Bush, the murderer, invader, fascist, criminal."

Site to be cleansed

Tight security has surrounded Bush's trip, with armed troops patroling the streets and F-16 fighter jets flying overhead.

Guatemala babies

How trade in infants to US is booming
ush is to visit the ruins and a farm co-operative later on Monday and Mayan leaders have promised to spiritually "cleanse" the site afterwards.

Brief scuffles broke out earlier in the day between riot police and indigenous farmers opposed to the visit.

Jorge Morales Toj, an indigenous leader, said: "We are protesting against the world's biggest murderer stepping onto our sacred place. For us it is painful and an enormous offense."

Illegal immigrants

More than a million Guatemalans live in the United States, many of them illegally. About 2,500 of them have been expelled so far this year.
Bush is scheduled to hold discussions with Oscar Berger, the country's president, in Guatemala City for talks expected to be dominated by trade and immigration.

Berger is likely to press for a temporary moratorium on deportations of Guatemalans who enter the US illegally, while the Bush administration and congress are trying to work out a more lasting solution to immigration issues.

Meanwhile, Chavez has shadowed Bush for much of his trip and as Bush arrived in Guatemala on Sunday, the Venezuelan leader was in Nicaragua.

More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/49B3F685-634B-4EE0-9862-91477A44B7B7.htm