Thousands gathered this evening to march against the policies of the World Bank and the IMF, one day after riot police swiftly crushed smaller protests and arrested nearly 650 people.
Representatives from dozens of groups from around the world plan to hold a three-hour-long rally starting this evening and then march to a downtown square two streets away from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund buildings.
Authorities prepared for 20,000 protesters to converge on the capital - the estimated number of people who showed up for similar protests in April 2000. However, a mere 2,000 showed up at different protests yesterday, according to a local news media estimate.
Police refused to give estimates on protester strength yesterday, and event organizers have said only that several thousand protesters will march today.
Inside the buildings, representatives of financial powers met behind heavy security as part of their annual joint meetings.
Police have cordoned off an area 18 city blocks large that includes the IMF and World Bank buildings, allowing only those with special identification to enter - in particular, the more than 8,000 delegates from the 184 member states who are participating in the meetings.
AFP