Guatemala Protests in Iron Grip for Bush Visit

US President George W. Bush, will arrive here today amidst a wave of protests and strong security measures that have put the capital under siege.

Bush, who will stay for 23 hours, will touch Guatemala at 21 hours local time in the Air Force One, escorted by two F-16 fighter planes. The closure of important avenues in the historic center of the capital, avenue Reforma, and access roads to Air Force facilities will be closed during his visit.

Fighter planes will take control of the nation´s air space for several hours, private flights will be cancelled and the commercial planes will change their time schedules.

Meanwhile, the town of Santa Cruz Balanza and the ceremmonial center kf Iximche, to be visited by Bush, have been taken for several days by agents of the US secret service.

In spite of the iron grip in security, Guatemalan indigenous summoned a rally for tonight in the city of Tecpan, near Iximche, to protest for Bush´s visit. "We are offended that he sets foot in a ground sacred for us", told Prensa Latina the leader of the Coordinadora Nacional Indigena y Campesina, Juan Tiney.

After the presidential visit, the mayas will carry out a ritual cleansing of the place to dispel the warring spirits of mister Bush and return the peace and harmony to the place, said Tiney.

"As Guatemalan and man who participated in the epic of August 2, when the US invasión in 1954, we are here to rescue the dignity of a people which has been subdued by US policies", said the eve Carlos Enrique Wer.

Thousands of persons participated on Saturday in a protest held in front of the US embassy to protest for massive deportations, against the Free Trade Agreement with the United States and US military presence in Guatemala.