SANTIAGO, Nov 19: Chilean anti-riot forces cracked down on pockets of stone-throwing youngsters on Friday but masses of people joined a separate peaceful, samba-like protest against the Asia-Pacific summit.

Military-style police, with helmets and plastic shields, took action hours before the arrival of President George Bush for the weekend Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

They fired tear gas and water cannon as radical protesters tried to cluster in in the side streets and main Alameda boulevard of the capital Santiago. Security forces hauled about a dozen of the protesters into buses, a couple of whom carried what appeared to be "Molotov cocktails".

"This gathering is not authorized. Go away," a loudspeaker blared from an armoured 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.

"No to rubbish pay," read another. A few blocks away, police let a colourful, authorized march of about 10,000 anti-globalization demonstrators go ahead under tight supervision. Security forces walked along side and guarded street intersections.

Every facet of the anti-capitalist movement was on show: scantily clad girls dancing the samba alongside a Brazilian beating drums, painted indigenous Mapuche people, two beauty queens, one them a transvestite, and Amnesty International activists with the Palestinian flag.

One group danced around an Iraqi flag, shouting curse words. A banner read: "Resist, Fallujah." Cyclists rode ahead of the procession, featuring an effigy of revolutionary Che Guevara, another of Mr Bush, people carrying the Chilean Communist Party flag, red flags, and elderly unionists.

"No violence allowed here," read one banner. "Bush terrorist, assassin," read another. Four or five floats made to look like tanks rolled along. An eagle made of plastic sheeting dragged plastic bottles behind it, the creation of the "Interesting Patriotic Theater Group" which said it represented the eagle of imperialism turning everything into garbage.

Fifteen people walked in silence blindfolded. Antonia, 15, said: "These are the blindfolds they put over our eyes so we don't see the reality and exploitation." In a straw hat and flowery shirt, 75-year-old Graciela said: "Peace not war. Bush is bloodthirsty." In stark contrast to the rock-throwing protests nearby, the march was peaceful but heavy on symbolism. Two blind people led the march chanting: "No to the dictatorship of the market." -AFP