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Argentina - Original Article (Spanish)

Anti-Bush Protests Get Under Way in Mar del Plata

A train carrying Diego Maradona and 160 other people, both Argentine and foreign, left last night headed toward Mar del Plata to repudiate the presence in the country of the President of the United States, George W. Bush. 

[Editor's Note: Diego Maradona is thought to have been one of the greatest soccer players of all time, leading the Venezuelan

The train, called "The Dawn Express [Expreso del Alba]," consisted of five coaches and left from Buenos Aires, and also carried Bolivian presidential candidate Eva Morales, as well as Bosnian movie director Emir Kusturica.

The Expreso del Alba Carrying 160 Protesting Luminaries Pulls Into Town

The convoy, coordinated by Miguel Bonasso, a deputy to [Venezuelan] President Néstor Kichner, also carried musicians, journalists and political leaders. The train is expected to arrive at Mar del Plata at dawn today.

The name of the convoy [Expreso del Alba] makes reference to the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), promoted by the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, as an alternative to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which is being promoted by the United States and is opposed by several countries in Latin America.

Kusturica, who is almost finished shooting a film about Maradona, took cameras and equipment to record the trip, along with his Argentine colleague Tristán Bauer, who will hold a showing of the award-winning "Enlightened By Fire," his most recent film about the war over the Malvinas [Falkland Islands] — MOVIE TRAILER: Tristán Bauer's Enlightened By Fire  

Once he arrives at Mar del Plata, the former captain of the Argentine soccer champions will lead one of three scheduled marches being held to repudiate Bush's visit for the Summit of 34 of the continent's Heads of State.

Diego Maradona: 'Captain' of Anti-Bush Activities Now Under Way in Argentina

The passengers of the "Dawn Express" will march toward the city's Global Athletics stadium [Mundialista Stage], which has a capacity for 45,000 spectators, where the main attraction will be a speech by President Chávez.

The organizers of the anti-Bush summit said that after the speeches, a cultural festival that will include performances by Cuban singer/songwriter Silvio Rodriguez and Argentine Víctor Heredia, among others.

George W. Bush's first visit to the country [Argentina] has triggered anti-Bush and anti-FTAA fever. In this context 500 associations of every description have joined together to march against the American president. The protests include marches across the country as well as a 24-hour-strike work stoppage called for by the Center of Argentinean Workers [CTA].

The CTA protest will begin to 11am in the Capital [Buenos Aires] with "a work stoppage and a march, as people are expected to abandon their work places." The action will include teachers, students and other public employees, small and medium enterprises, and a parallel action by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT).

In the larger cities of the interior, there will be similar "job actions, marches, the raising of artist tents, caravans and festivals and open-mic radio shows," among other activities.