Riot Erupts Over Bush Tour

Rioters charge at police

Updated: 20:54, Sunday March 11, 2007

George Bush has arrived in Columbia as violent protests erupted in capital Bogota.

He is the first American President to enter the country in 25 years.

About 150 protesters attacked riot police with rocks and metal barriers just moments after Mr Bush landed for a six-hour stopover.

About 200 police responded with water cannon and tear gas to reclaim a street, about a mile from the presidential palace.

Some of the rioters later rampaged on Bogota's main avenue, breaking shop windows and ripping computers from bank offices.

The rioters had broken away from a larger group of 2,000 protesters.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe with Mr Bush

Bogota's police chief said 35 people were arrested.

As Mr Bush's convoy neared the presidential palace, the protesters chanted "Bush go home" and "Bush is a terrorist".

Colombia gets around $700m in US aid to combat terrorism and drug traffickers.

But protesters object that the support only encourages human rights abuses by the Colombian armed forces.

The demonstrators also protested the US war in Iraq.

Colombia is the highest-security stopover on Mr Bush's Latin American five-nation tour.

Some 7,000 police and troops blocked off large parts of the Bogota, while 14,000 reinforcements set up roadblocks, checking IDs and searching vehicles.