Police opened fire with tear gas and water cannon to drive back protesters hurling missiles today as violence flared for a second day near the site of the Summit of the Americas in Quebec.
As leaders of 34 North American, Latin American and Caribbean countries made speeches inside the convention center, angry protesters began throwing paint, rocks and bottles over a 10-foot security fence sealing off the area.
Police in riot gear doused protesters with water from two trucks and fired volleys of tear gas, forcing them to retreat several hundred yards from the fence of wire mesh embedded in concrete blocks. Witnesses saw three people arrested.
In see-saw action, the protesters regrouped and surged back to the fence at Boulevard Rene Levesque, where they breached it yesterday, less than half a mile from the summit.
Some used chains to try to pull it down again. Others climbed onto the wire and pulled it half-way down before police drove them back with tear gas and water.
In another part of the tense city, thousands of activists marched through the streets in a peaceful protest against the planned Free Trade Area of the Americas being discussed at the summit. Organizers said 23,000 people took part, among them environmental, trade union and human rights groups.
They argue that the leaders' goal of setting up a free trade zone across the Americas will hurt the poor and damage the environment.
Yesterday’s violence forced a 90-minute delay in the start of the summit. Skirmishing continued into the night, with clouds of tear gas wafting through the city center.